top of page
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Beaver Fast Facts

The North American Beaver, known widely for their carpentry skills, do more than chew. Through the mere act of gnawing they have shaped entire ecosystems across North America for millions of years — restoring rivers, increasing biodiversity, and helping ecosystems become more resilient in the face of fire and drought. 

 

These tireless efforts earned them the title of a Keystone Species — an organism with the power to shape their environment. When keystone species are in trouble, so are their ecosystems. But when they thrive, the positive impacts are felt far and wide.

Beavers are Adapted to Shape Environments

These rodents have continuously growing, sharp teeth coated in thick iron enamel. This enables them to 1) Chomp through solid trees and 2) Provides a signature orange style! They’re semi-aquatic, which makes them different rodents from, for instance, your typical urban squirrel collective. Beavers also swim impressively fast thanks to powerful webbed hind feet and a rudder-like tail. Speed is just the beginning for this underwater powerhouse.​

A diagram of a beaver's special characteristics.

Diagram of a Beaver’s Specialized features, including: powerful front teeth, large skulls, multi-functional feet, rudder-like tails, and incredible waterproof fur.

In or out of water, a large part of a beaver’s brain is designed to hyperfocus on sounds and scents. A powerful inner auditory cavity allows them to hear effectively even with relatively small ears. And smells can define a beaver’s world in crucial ways, leading them to food and away from predators.

This is a realistic illustration of a beaver skull. The skull is cream colored and the front teeth are orange.

Illustration of

a beaver skull, featuring distinct iron-coated orange front teeth.

Beaver swimming with its head above water.

Nearly every part of their body can seal shut to keep water out, including their ears and nostrils. Even their tongues can rise up to prevent them from swallowing too much water.Their eyes come with two sets of eyelids, one functioning like a legitimate pair of goggles so they can see better underwater than above the surface. Beavers also generate plenty of oxygen due to high levels of myoglobin in their muscles, which enables them to hold their breath for up to 15 minutes!

This is an image of the beaver's multi-layered eyelid. There are three eyes in different stages of the protective process.

Illustration of a beaver’s layered eyelids which allow for a layer of waterproof protection beneath a more standard visual eyelid. This allows beavers to safely open their eyes and see clearly underwater.

Superb sniffers lead them to each other, too. Each beaver produces castor oil from two glands to claim their space and say "hello there" to potential mates. Castor oil also doubles as a grooming oil which they smooth into their luscious coat for waterproofing purposes. 

This is an illustration of a brown bottle with a tan label stating "Beaver Castrorium."
This is an image of a beaver swimming through the water with a large tree branch in its mouth.

Lastly, beavers are STRONG. If they decide they need a heavy maple tree branch, or a hundred pound boulder to support their dam construction, beavers can team up to get things rolling in the right direction.

These extraordinary traits have kept  beavers alive and well for millions of years. Today, they can be found chewing, building, and working hard across North America.​

 

So, the question remains: 

What do beavers ultimately achieve?

bottom of page