Beaver Factfile

Scientific Name : Castor canadensis

World Distribution

Beavers are found in Canada, the United States, and also in parts of Europe and Asia.

Habitat

Beavers live by lakes and streams in forests. They make amazing dome-shaped homes using mud and sticks. These are called lodges and they sometimes end up several feet high as they are passed down through generations of beavers. They have chimneys for ventilation (yes, really!) and safe, underwater entrances.

Breeding

Between 3 - 6 young, called kits, are born each year. Beavers tend to live in familly groups made up of a pair of adults, last year's young and the present year's young. Young beavers leave the family when they are about two years old.

Predators

Beavers are hunted by a large number of predators such as wolves, bears, and lynx. Young beavers, because they are smaller, are also eaten by owls, hawks and mink.
They are quite slow and easy to catch on land, but they are superb swimmers, so once in the water they are safe.

Other Information

• Beavers slap their wide, flat tails down on the water's surface, making a loud noise to warn others of danger.

• They use scent mounds (piles of mud squirted with a substance produced by special glands) to mark out their territory.

• Transparent eyelids protect the beaver's eyes as it swims ( rather like goggles!)

• Beavers belong to the group of animals called rodents (mice, squirrels and guinea pigs are members of this group). Rodents have teeth which never stop growing, so they must gnaw on hard things to wear them down.

• They comb special oil through their fur to keep it waterproof.

  Facts and Figures
  Name	beaver
  Type of animal	mammal
  Where found	North America, Europe, Asia
  Habitat	lakes, rivers, streams
  Diet	herbivorous
  Average length	90 cm
  Average weight	20 kg
  Average number of young per year	3
  Gestation	105 days
  Maximum lifespan	50 years
  Note for Teachers

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