beaver

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a beaver & its flat tail

a kind of animal – mammal – rodent – looks like a very large rat, (belongs to rat family and related to squirrels) with a broad head, stout body with thick and smooth hair, webbed back (hind) legs, like that of a duck, flat hairless (but covered with scales, like the ones on fish) tail that looks like a paddle, and used as a rudder while swimming; grows to 2-3 feet (o.16m) with an extra 10 inch tail length and weighs about15 to 34 Kg.; lives in and near water (semi-aquatic) i.e. lives on land and water, mostly in water; feeds (eats) on grasses, and bark, twigs and roots of water plants; lives for about 25 years; two species (kinds) found in Europe and North America

a beaver’s lodge from outside

male ~~ male

female ~~ female

baby ~~ pup/kitten/kit

group ~~ colony

home ~~ lodge

Special Features:

The ‘Beaver’ is the national animal of Canada.

American beaver is the state animal of Oregon, a state in the USA.

‘Beaver’ is the state animal of New York, a state in the USA.

Beavers are the third largest rodents in the world, only next to capybara and porcupine, and are one of the very few hard-working animals.

Beavers have such a fine coat of hair that they have been over-hunted.

They had to be reintroduced to England twice.

a beaver cutting down a tree with its sharp front teeth

Beavers are master builders, only next to humans. They build their home by damming the rivers and streams.

First they build a dam on a stream or small river by felling trees which they cut down by gnawing with their sharp powerful front teeth across the flow of the water to make a calm pond,

and then build a dome-shaped home called ‘lodge’ in the middle of the pond, with two entrance which are in the water so that animals like fox, wolverine and bear cannot enter the lodge, but the beavers can enter and exit without a problem. The lodge is built with mud and tree branches. Several beavers share a lodge.

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