Homeschool Unit Study: Beavers
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The beaver belongs to the genus Castor, and is a large, mostly nocturnal rodent. In fact, beavers are North America's largest rodent, and the second-largest rodent in the world. They are related to muskrats, squirrels, and mice.
In the wild, beavers can live up to twenty years, but they do have natural prey. Otters, lynx, wolverines, wolves, and bears like eating younger beavers for their meals. Fishers who fish near their homes can also be dangerous for these incredible creatures.
Beavers are semiaquatic, so their webbed feet are quite advantageous for moving through the water quickly. Beavers can also boast of thick tails that resemble paddles and act as rudders in the water to help steer these animals when they swim. Beavers huge, flat tails help them balance when they are walking around on land. They are great swimmers and love banks, lakes and streams with trees.
Beavers are herbivores, meaning they eat plants, and their huge front teeth are conducive to this diet. Small twigs and bark are a large part of their diets, and they love eating a wide variety of different trees, such as alder, willow, maple, birch, poplar, and aspen. They store small log sections under the water near their houses for food later on.
Known for their building skills, beavers use mud, stones, and branches to build dams. These structures stretch across streams, stopping the water flow, thus creating a still pond for beavers—and other aquatic life—to make their homes.
A beaver colony can consist of six or more beavers, including baby beavers, called kits; young beavers, called yearlings; and adults or parents. Typically, beavers leave their parents at about two years of age and set out to find a monogamous mate.
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