American Beaver
Castor canadensis
Identification 3
The range of Castor canadensis range is North America though not peninsular Florida and southwestern deserts. They are found throughout Utah, including Iron County. They live in areas with water (streams, rivers, lakes, etc.)
Beaver fur is chestnut brown to black with the underbelly light-brown to gray. They are 45-60 pounds and 35-46 inches long. They have small eyes and ears with nictitating membranes. The front feet are small with large claws and the rear feet are large and webbed. The characteristic tails are flat, broad, ovoid, fairly dark, mostly hairless, and scaly (Picture 2.) Their incisor teeth are bright orange. Felled trees will retain gnaw marks, often in the shape of an hourglass. Front tracks (2-3 inches long) will show four toes as the fifth does not always register. Claw marks are visible, the hind tracks (6-7 inches long) may show webbing. The tails will leave a dragging trail as shown in the picture. Beavers leave scat in the water or on the edge of the water. They perform coprophagy, so scat has two forms. The first scat is soft and green and the second is dark brown. The scats are pellets or tubular and present with woody material and plant fibers. The size of scat is ¾-1 ½ inches in diameter and 1½ to 2½ inches long (Picture 10.)
Summary and Information 4
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is one of two extant beaver species. It is native to North America and introduced to Patagonia in South America and some European countries (e.g. Norway). In the United States and Canada, the species is often referred to simply as "beaver", though this causes some confusion because another distantly related rodent, Aplodontia rufa, is often called the "mountain beaver". Other vernacular names, including American beaver and Canadian beaver. Although Aplodontia rufa has similar features (such as color of the fur, small eyes and ears, etc.), it can be differentiated by the much smaller size at 18-32 ounces and length of 12-20 inches. Their tail is very short (less than two inches) with no similarities to a beaver's tail.
Beavers will always live in water where they can build dams and lodges to create a pond in that area. Though they do not always create dams – they will live beside a river and live in a lodge. Their lodges are characteristically dome shaped with a base that averages 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet high. They have a preference for birch, willow, aspen, cottonwood, basswood, and poplar trees. Their diet consists of cattail shoots, pond lilies, various vegetation, and cambium of trees.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Minette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7232133@N08/3377813036
- (c) Chanel Tom, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Chanel Tom
- Adapted by Chanel Tom from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_canadensis
- (c) Chanel Tom, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
