:::Wild Tails:::

In This Issue

The American Beaver

Beaver Fun Facts

The beaver is North America's largest rodent.
An adult beaver weighs between 40 and 50 pounds, on average.
Beavers are second only to humans in their ability to alter the environment.
Beavers slap their flat tails on the surface of the water as an alarm signal to warn other family members of approaching danger.
Their noses and ears have valves that close when they are underwater.
A beaver can stay underwater for up to 20 minutes.
A beaver's front teeth never stop growing. They must constantly gnaw and chew to keep their incisors short.
The outer enamel layer of their teeth is bright orange and is very thick. This gives their teeth added strength for chiseling..
In climates where the ponds freeze over, beavers store an underwater food cache to be used as their winter food supply. The ice cover prevents them from surfacing to look for food on land.

	The beaver is often confused with another rodent, the nutria, pictured below. Both have dark brown fur, both are excellent swimmers, and both have webbed hind feet. What is an easy way to tell the difference between a beaver and a nutria?