How beavers build a house. beaver surprises

The river beaver is the largest representative of rodents in Russia and border states. The body length of adults is more than a meter, height 30-40 cm, weight about 30 kg.

The beaver's fur consists of coarse, coarse hairs and a soft undercoat. Due to the special properties of wool, the beaver remains dry even under water.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the beaver was on the verge of complete destruction almost all over the world, including Russia, but thanks to effective measures taken by the state, the river beaver now lives in European Russia, the south of Western Siberia, in the Yenisei basin, Kamchatka.

It is not very difficult to notice the habitats of beavers - fallen trees along the banks of the reservoir, the famous dams of these river builders, huts in which animals live. Beavers settle in slowly flowing forest rivers, oxbow lakes, and reservoirs. One of the main conditions for the existence of beavers is the availability of a sufficient amount of food. Their diet includes the bark of trees growing along the shore of the reservoir, a variety of aquatic plants. The bark of aspen, willow, linden is considered a delicacy of beavers ... From herbaceous plants, they like sedge, egg capsule, reed, nettle, sorrel and many others. According to scientists who study the life of river beavers, they eat about 300 different herbal plants.

To get to the cherished shoots of trees, beavers gnaw the tree trunk, after which it falls. They are most active at night and in the evening twilight. At this time, you can hear how the beaver gnaws at the trunk (this sound can be heard for a hundred meters). Thanks to its sharp massive teeth, it can gnaw through an aspen trunk 10-12 cm thick in half an hour. On thicker hardwoods, such as oak, he can work several nights in a row. River beaver, as a rule, does not eat oak, but uses it for the construction of dams and huts (more on this below).

Beavers try to choose thinner trees, which are enough to gnaw through on one side so that they fall. They gnaw thicker trees from all sides, and the place of gnaw is somewhat similar to an hourglass. In summer, the beaver "works" from the evening until the first glow in the east appears - until about 4 o'clock in the morning. In autumn, his working hours increase. This is due to the fact that the beaver stores food for the winter at this time of the year.

Beavers are family animals, and the larger the family, the more "food" these river rodents need. They store branches of trees, which are stored at the bottom of the reservoir. The stock of food for one family is several tens of cubic meters. It happens that the fast flow of the river does not allow stocking up for the winter, since all the prepared food is carried away by the current. In this case, the beavers are forced to go ashore every night and forage on land. But in this way they put their lives at great risk, as slow, clumsy beavers become easy prey for four-legged predators, mainly wolves.

Sometimes beavers eat their own feces. According to scientists - to obtain vitamins. For medicinal purposes, they can also eat the bark of conifers, more often pines.

Beavers live in burrows they dig themselves or in huts. If conditions allow - high banks, dense soil, then a family of river beavers settles in a hole. The entrance to the burrow is under water, and the burrow itself is a complex structure with several entrances and exits, many burrows and nesting chambers. The walls of the passages in the burrows are carefully rammed, the lair is kept clean.

But often, due to the conditions of the area (low bank of the reservoir, wet, loosened soil), river beavers build huts.

The hut is the dwelling of these river rodents, somewhat reminiscent of the roof of Ukrainian and South Russian huts. First, the hut is built with only one "room" 1.7-2 meters wide and up to 1.6 meters high. Beavers spend no more than 2 months building such a simple hut. The building material is large branches, smaller branches, grass, clay and silt. The entrance to the hut is located below, so the beavers go straight into the water. As a born engineer, the river beaver builds its housing according to a certain scheme: first, large branches are used, then the gaps between them are filled with smaller ones. And so that the wind does not walk in the hut, its walls are smeared with a mixture of clay and silt. Animals lay wood shavings on the “floor”, and the walls inside the hut are made even, biting the branches protruding inside the dwelling. Beavers try to make their home strong, warm, reliable - and they succeed.

Even in severe frosts, when the air temperature outside the hut drops below 30 o C, the temperature in the hut is always above zero. In severe frost, steam comes out of the hut through small holes in the ceiling. Animals in their home always feel protected, since not a single predator that preys on river beavers can destroy their home. Especially in winter frosts, when the cold literally cements the walls of the hut. In rare cases, a beaver's housing can be broken by a bear or another predator no less dangerous for beavers - wolverine. But beaver meat lovers rarely manage to catch this rodent - even before the beast breaks the roof of the hut, it manages to hide under water. In water without air, a river beaver can stay for about a quarter of an hour. In case of danger, the rodent immediately dives under the water, while making a loud slap on the water with its tail. This slap serves as an alarm signal to other beavers of the family. The sound of a slap is somewhat similar to a rifle shot, just as sharp and loud, it can be heard a hundred meters away.

As the beaver family grows, additional living space is required - and the river builder begins to expand the hut - add new "rooms", and even a second floor! Therefore, old huts can grow significantly both in width and in height. It is not surprising if in the habitats of beavers you will see a hut with a height of 3 meters or more. In huts with a large number of cameras, the life of beavers changes dramatically. If in a simple hut, consisting of one room, the animals both ate and slept in one place, then in the "apartment" hut, the beavers' bedroom is on the uppermost tier, and the "dining room" on the lowest.

Animals always keep their homes clean. All uneaten food remains are thrown into the water, which carries them downstream.

Often on the reservoirs where beavers live, you can also see another dwelling of these river rodents - a semi-hut. Outside, it looks like a low mound of brushwood. A semi-hut, as a rule, turns out as follows: the water level in the reservoir, for some reason, has become higher. Consequently, water also appeared in the beaver's hole, which slightly flooded the nesting chamber. To raise the level of the floor, the beaver scrapes the earth from the ceiling. The ceiling is getting thinner and thinner, and one moment it may collapse. And in order not to build a new hole, the beaver strengthens the ceiling with branches, silt and clay. So it turns out half a hat.

Often the water level in the river constantly fluctuates throughout the year. Water rises after heavy rains, or vice versa, almost completely dries up from the long summer heat. Both the increase and especially the decrease in the water level in the river have a negative impact on the life of beavers. And in order for the water to always be at the same level, the beaver builds dams.

beaver dams

These hydraulic structures are designed to prevent the river from becoming shallow, as well as to flood the river, which opens up river beavers

great opportunities in the "development" of flooded territories.

Beavers build a dam downstream of their territorial possessions. The length, height and width of the dam depend on the width of the river and the speed of the current. If the forest river is small and the current is not too fast, then the beaver dam will also be small, but able to withstand the pressure of the water. The "average" dam has the following dimensions: 15-30 meters long, about 4 meters wide (in the middle of the river) 1-2 meters along the edges, 2-3 meters high.

Rodents choose a place for the construction of a dam where there is already a “foundation” - a fallen tree, a narrowing of the channel, etc.

The building material for beaver dams are tree knots, branches, clay, and silt. First of all, beavers stick into the place where the dam will be located, large long knots or stakes, between which the beaver lays smaller branches, filling the gaps between them with a mixture of silt and clay. To give strength to the dam, rodents strengthen it with cobblestones, which they found nearby at the bottom of the river. River builders carry these stones to the dam on their front paws.

But after a while, this dam is no longer enough to hold water, as the water "runs away" along the sides of the dam. To stop the water, beavers make additional outbuildings on the sides of the main dam. And so gradually, from year to year, the dam becomes larger and larger, and the dam itself becomes stronger. Over time, small trees, shrubs and herbaceous vegetation grow on it, which further strengthens this miracle of beaver engineering!

In the event of damage in the dam, beavers promptly eliminate them, thereby avoiding "emergency situations". Since the vision of beavers is relatively poorly developed, they determine “breakdowns” on the dam by hearing - in some place a suspicious murmur appeared, which means that a hole has appeared here. And the whole beaver family is repairing the damaged area.

The beaver dams are so strong that some of them can even be used to cross from one bank to another. And this is not the only benefit that they bring to man and the environment as a whole. Dams raise the water level, which is very popular with aquatic insects, and in the habitats of beavers, due to favorable conditions, the number of fish increases. Therefore, the river beaver is considered a useful animal.

Another construction structure of beavers is water channels. Their rodents break deep into the forest when there is practically no food left on the coastline. The width of these channels is from half a meter to a meter. On them, the beaver makes his way to new, undeveloped areas, where there is a large amount of food. Through these channels, a river builder melts branches and knots that are used to build dams, huts, or for food. On them, the rodent also escapes from predators, quickly diving into it, becoming inaccessible to anyone.

But all the same, these animals fall prey to wolves, from which they cannot hide on the ground. Sometimes river beavers can fall into the paws of a bear, wolverine, and other large land predators. And the minks and otters that swim well in the water are not afraid of an adult beaver. Young animals can be attacked by raccoon, fox, pike and catfish.

The life expectancy of a river beaver in nature is about 15 years. Their rut begins in January-February, and in April-May 3-6 half-blind beavers are born. The weight of newborns is 400-500 g. Until the end of summer, the mother feeds them with milk. Still inexperienced, weak cubs stay with their parents for the winter. Children, as a rule, leave the parental hut only after 2 years.

Beavers overwinter, spending most of their time in their homes. The beaver spends the whole short winter day and almost the whole night in the hut, in the “sleeping” room, being in a state of half-asleep. Occasionally he descends into the water to his supplies, takes a few branches from there and swims back to the house. After eating, he returns to the bedroom. A family of beavers is always sleeping together, gathered in a close friendly circle.

Friendly beavers also do not mind if muskrat or muskrat. But on condition that they do not interfere with them and build their own nesting chamber. Very often snakes winter in beaver huts - snakes and vipers! But the river beaver is hostile to individuals from other families - the one who violates the border of the settlement will be expelled by all members of the family, while receiving severe wounds.

Beavers are probably the only rodents that can walk on two legs. So they walk when they carry some objects in their front paws - knots of trees, stones. And mothers can thus carry cubs.

The common beaver is a large semi-aquatic animal, a representative of the rodent order. The common beaver is also called the river beaver. The Beast impresses with his skills: he is an experienced builder, an excellent owner and an exemplary family man. The common beaver is the second largest rodent in the world. In this article you will find a description and photo of the common beaver, learn a lot of new and interesting things about these rodents.

Before I tell you what beavers look like, I want to make a little clarification. Very often using the words beaver and beaver, people mean the same thing - that is, directly to the rodent itself. But these two words have different meanings. So, a beaver is the name of an animal, and its fur is called a beaver.

So what do beavers look like? The common beaver looks like a large rodent. The body length of the animal reaches 1 meter, height - up to 35 cm, with a body weight of 32 kg. The length of the beaver's tail is up to 30 cm, and the width is up to 13 cm. An amazing fact of these rodents is that females are larger than males.

The common beaver has short legs and a squat body. The hind legs of the river beaver are much stronger than the front ones. The second finger of the hind paws has a claw that is forked - with it the beaver combs its fur like a comb. These animals carefully look after their "fur coat".

On its paws, the rodent has swimming membranes and strong thickened claws. Beavers look quite unusual because of their amazing tail. The tail of a beaver resembles an oar, it is flat, hairless and covered with horny scales.

The common beaver has a large head with a narrow muzzle, small eyes and protruding front incisors. Beaver teeth are special, they are covered with strong enamel, grow all their lives and sharpen themselves. The common beaver has small and short ears that are barely visible in the thick fur. Despite this, the animal has excellent hearing.

Beavers look like real fur barons, because they have beautiful shiny fur. The beaver's fur has two layers, which keeps this rodent warm and dry in cold winters. The first layer of the beaver's coat consists of coarse long hair, and the second is a very thick silky undercoat. Also, the river beaver is protected from the cold by the presence of a fatty layer under the skin.

Beavers look inconspicuous due to their coloration. The fur of the common beaver has a light chestnut or dark brown color, sometimes even black. The tail and limbs of the animal are black. The tail of the common beaver has wen and special glands.

The odorous substance produced by the tail glands of a rodent is called a beaver stream. And the secret of wen contains all the information about the owner, carries information about his age and gender. A reference point for other beavers about the boundaries of the territory of the settlement is the smell of the beaver stream, which is unique for each individual. In the wild, the common beaver lives an average of 15 years.

Beavers live in Europe (Scandinavian countries), France (lower Rhone), Germany (Elbe river basin) and Poland (Vistula river basin). Also, beavers are found in the forest and forest-steppe zones of the European part of Russia, in Belarus, in Ukraine.

In Russia, the beaver lives in the Northern Trans-Urals. Beavers live scattered in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River, in the Kuzbass (Kemerovo region), in the Baikal region, in the Khabarovsk Territory, in Kamchatka, in the Tomsk region. In addition, beavers are found in Mongolia and Northwest China.

Beavers live with full equipment for a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Their ear holes and nostrils close underwater. And special nictitating membranes close their eyes, which allows them to see well in the water. The oral cavity is designed so that water does not get into it while the animal is working under water. The function of the steering wheel in the water is performed by the tail of the beaver.

Beavers live, preferring to populate the banks of calm rivers and lakes, ponds and reservoirs. They avoid fast and wide rivers, as well as reservoirs that freeze to the bottom in winter. For these rodents, the presence of soft hardwood trees, the presence of aquatic, herbaceous and shrubby vegetation in coastal zones and along the banks of the reservoir is important.

Beavers dive and swim well. Thanks to their large lungs, they can stay under water for up to 15 minutes and swim up to 750 meters during this time. Therefore, beavers feel more confident in the water than on land.

Beavers live in families (up to 8 individuals) or singly. The family consists of a married couple and young beavers (broods for the last two years). The same site can be used by a family for many generations. Small reservoirs are occupied by an idle beaver or one family. Larger reservoirs accommodate several families, and the length of each individual family plot along the coast ranges from 300 meters to 3 km. Beavers live near water and do not move more than 200 meters from the coastline.

The length of the family plot depends on the abundance of food. In places where vegetation is abundant, the areas of these animals can border on each other and even intersect. Beavers mark the boundaries of their territories. Beavers communicate using scent marks. Beavers communicate with each other using postures, tail slaps on the water, and whistle-like calls. In case of danger, the beaver loudly slaps its tail on the water and dives. Such a clap sets off an alarm for all beavers within earshot.

Beavers are active at night and at dusk. In the summer, they leave their dwellings at dusk and work until dawn. In autumn, beavers prepare for winter and begin to forage. The working day is extended to 10 hours. In winter, beavers live less actively, labor activity decreases and moves to daylight hours. Beavers overwinter, almost never appearing on the surface, but they do not hibernate. At temperatures below -20 °C, the beaver spends the winter surrounded by his family, staying in his warm home.

The beavers are building a new house at the end of August. Lonely beavers do not build buildings, but family beavers work very hard. What is the beaver's home called? In one settlement of beavers, two types of dwellings are found. In the first case, the beaver's house is called a burrow. Beavers live in burrows, they dig them in steep, precipitous banks. For safety, the entrance to such a beaver dwelling is always under water. Beaver burrows are a kind of labyrinth that has 4 entrances. The walls and ceiling of the beaver's burrow are carefully leveled.

The beaver's residential house inside the hole is located at a depth of up to 1 meter and a little more than a meter wide, with a height of 50 cm. The floor is always above the water level. If the water in the river rises, the beaver raises the floor, scraping the earth from the ceiling. All construction activities of beavers are dictated by their desire for safety and comfort. Where it is impossible to dig holes, houses are built directly on the water in a shallow part of the reservoir. Such a beaver dwelling is called a hut and beavers build these floating houses on the principle of building a dam.

Beaver huts look like a cone-shaped island protruding from the water. The height of such a beaver's house reaches 3 meters and a diameter of up to 12 meters, the entrance to the dwelling is under water. A beaver hut is built from a pile of brushwood, which is held together with silt and earth. Beavers carefully coat the walls of their dwellings with silt and clay. Thus, the beaver's hut turns into a strong fortress, and air enters through the hole in the ceiling.

Inside the beaver hut there are passages into the water and a platform that is above the water level. When frosts come, beavers additionally apply a new layer of clay to the hut with the help of their front paws. In winter, the temperature is above zero in the beaver huts, the water in the passages is not covered with an ice crust, and the beavers calmly go out under the ice of the reservoir. In winter, steam rises above the inhabited beaver huts. Beavers are real cleaners, they keep their homes clean, never littering it.

In bodies of water where the water level is variable, beavers build dams or dams. Why do beavers build dams? The beaver dam allows them to raise and maintain the water level in the reservoir, to regulate it so that the entrances to the huts do not dry up. The dam ensures the safety and security of the beaver lodge. Beavers build dams from branches, brushwood and tree trunks, holding them together with clay, silt and other materials. If there are stones at the bottom, they are also used in construction.

Beavers build dams in places where trees grow closer to the shore. The construction of a beaver dam begins with the fact that beavers dive and stick trunks vertically into the bottom, strengthen the gaps with branches and fill the voids with silt, clay, and stones. If there is a tree that has fallen into the river, then it often serves as a supporting frame. Beavers gradually cover it from all sides with building materials. Often the branches in beaver dams take root, which gives additional strength to the structure.

A beaver dam usually reaches a length of up to 30 meters, a width of up to 6 meters, and a height of usually 2 meters, but sometimes up to 4 meters. The beaver dam is a strong structure, it can easily support the weight of a person. On average, the construction of a dam for a beaver family takes about a month. Beavers carefully monitor that the dam remains intact and immediately repair it if damage is detected.

Beavers fell trees to build a beaver dam and forage. They gnaw them at the base, gnaw off branches, and divide the trunk into parts. A tree with a diameter of 7 cm is cut down by a beaver in 5 minutes. A tree 40 cm in diameter is felled and processed by a beaver during the night, so that in the morning only a pointed stump and a hill of chips remain.

The trunk of a tree, over which the beaver has already worked, but has not yet knocked down, acquires a characteristic hourglass shape. Partially fallen tree branches are eaten by beavers on the spot. The rest they demolish or float on the water to the construction site of the dam or their house.

Each year, the beaten paths of beavers are gradually filled with water, forming beaver channels. On them, animals fuse tree food. The length of such channels can reach hundreds of meters. Beavers always keep the canals clean.

The area, which has been transformed as a result of the activity of beavers, is called a beaver landscape. In their ability to change the natural landscape, they are second only to humans. Beavers are one of the most unique animals, because they are able to learn and improve their skills all their lives.

Beavers are vegetarians, they are exclusively herbivorous animals. Beavers feed on bark and tree shoots. Beavers love birch, willow, aspen and poplar. Beavers also eat various herbaceous plants: water lilies, irises, cattail, reeds, and this list includes many items.

A large number of softwood trees is a necessary condition for their habitat. Hazel, linden, elm, bird cherry and some other trees are not so important and significant in their diet. They usually do not eat alder and oak, but use them for buildings. But the beaver eats acorns willingly. Large teeth allow beavers to easily cope with woody forages. Typically, beavers feed on only a few tree species.

In summer, the proportion of herbaceous food on which the beaver feeds increases. In the fall, household beavers begin to prepare tree forage for the winter. Therefore, in winter, beavers feed on their reserves. Their beavers put them into the water, where they retain their food qualities all winter.

The amount of stocks for a family can be very huge. To keep food from freezing into the ice, beavers usually heat it below the water level. Therefore, even when the reservoir is covered with ice, food will remain available for the animals and the family will be provided with everything necessary.

beaver cubs

Beavers are monogamous, having united once, they live together all their lives and remain faithful to each other. The female dominates in the family. Beavers become capable of breeding at 2 years of age. Offspring bring 1 time per year. The mating season lasts from mid-January to the end of February. The duration of pregnancy is 3.5 months.

In April-May, from 2 to 6 beavers are born. Beaver cubs are born sighted, well covered with hair, and weigh an average of 0.5 kg. After 2 days, beaver cubs can already swim. Beavers take care of their cubs.

At the age of 1 month, beaver cubs switch to plant foods, but the mother continues to feed on milk for up to 3 months. Grown up beavers usually do not leave their parents for another 2 years, after which the young are resettled.

What is a beaver useful for and what are beavers for?

Beavers are useful in that their appearance in rivers has a beneficial effect on the ecological system. The beaver is especially useful in the construction of its dams. Various living creatures and waterfowl settle in them, which bring fish caviar on their paws, and fish appear in the reservoir. Beavers are needed because their dams help purify the water, they retain silt and reduce turbidity.

Beavers are peaceful animals, but they also have enemies in nature - these are brown bears, wolves and foxes. But the main threat to beavers is man. As a result of hunting, the common beaver was on the verge of extinction by the beginning of the 20th century. Beavers are slaughtered for their fur. In addition, they give a beaver stream, which is used in perfumery and medicine.

To preserve this valuable animal, effective measures were taken to protect and renew the population. By the early 21st century, the beaver population had recovered. Now the common beaver has the status of minimal risk in the International Red Book. Currently, the main threat to it is water pollution and the construction of hydroelectric power plants.

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Beaver can rightly be called the best builder. To fill up a thin tree, it takes only a few minutes. A thicker tree (up to 50 cm in diameter) will take the whole night, and during this time the beaver will also have time to clear the branches. And all because of continuously growing sharp teeth.

Thanks to them, he can resist any beast, although only wolves occasionally attack beavers. And in the water, the beast is not threatened at all.

But still, the main practice of beavers is erection and building. And you won't find better professionals than them. Any dam is a constant water height that beavers require for standard processes and cycles in their existence.

The process of building a dam for these forest laborers can be called ideal. The animals know where to stick branches and trunks, and if necessary, strengthen them with stones. All holes will certainly be plugged with the surrounding “seal” under the teeth and paws: silt, reeds, clay, small twigs.

Beaver buildings are striking in their size. Their height can vary from 1.5 (2) to 5 meters, and the width can reach under water and all 6 meters. The branches that were used in construction very often take root in a humid environment and begin to grow. Which makes the dam even more durable and reliable.

Beavers, as responsible owners, always keep their constructions under supervision, maintain, forge, renew. Thus, they provide long-term life to their dams. After all, the latter often serve as crossings over rivers, and if beaver families are not interfered with, then such natural bridges will always work.

The constant dwelling place of builders-divers is burrows, like those of badgers. But the difference is that you can only find access to such a lair from the side of the water. If the family lives on a small river, then you can often see the so-called "semi-huts": holes that end with some kind of small building. They organize their own "HATKI" only where it is impossible to dig a hole in any way. The hut is a two-meter pile of branches. Such buildings give a diameter of more than 10 meters near the ground. Access to the "house" is specially mastered deeply. And in the most severe winter, when the thermometer rises to an unimaginable level, the water does not freeze there. Beaver lodges are inaccessible to other animals. Beavers are workers of the dark time of the day: they do all the primary work just then. During the day, they rest and gain strength. An exception may be circumstances that require urgent restoration of the dam. Beavers recognize such problems by the quiet murmur of water. And having started work, they will do it qualitatively, although the process itself is very leisurely.

During episodes of spring water rises, beavers organize trustworthy, but unstable houses for themselves in the branches of trees and bushes, which lie mostly in the water. They use this “home” until the water leaves, and then all families return to their permanent habitats.

Beavers are extremely neat and tidy creatures. You will hardly notice garbage around their dwellings. Away from their holes, animals even make themselves something resembling toilets. In addition to dams, beavers also build water channels that “pull” in the forest zone if there is no food near the water. Such ditches are usually a meter wide. And they serve as roads along which beavers move in search of building materials or food. On them, everything found is transported with water. If suddenly a beaver is attacked by a forest predator, the canal will become a place of salvation, because the beast is inaccessible in the water. But on the ground, it can simply turn out to be a light snack from a bear or a wolverine. A young beaver is a successful and simple hunt for a fox, a raccoon and even a pike. The grown individual is no longer afraid of anyone and will be able to give a worthy rebuff to any enemy.

The common beaver (Latin name: Castorfiber) is a prominent representative of the order of rodents from the beaver family. It is the largest rodent in the world after the capybara.

Quite often, in colloquial speech, mammals are called "beaver", however, if you turn to the dictionary of Ozhegov S.I., you can find out that this word is used in the meaning of rodent fur.

Appearance

A semi-aquatic animal reaches a length of 1.3 meters, and a mass of up to 32 kg. Females are larger than males. A distinctive feature of the mammal is the tail, reaching 30 cm in length and having no hairline. It resembles a paddle and is covered with large scales and bristles.

The short, powerful hind legs of the beaver are equipped with webbing between the toes. Large claws are curved and have a flat shape. A notable fact is that the claw is forked on the second toe of the hind foot. With the help of it, mammals take care of their thick hair, combing it. The beaver is a very clean and tidy animal that regularly monitors the condition of the skin.

Beautiful beaver fur is considered valuable. It consists of coarse guard hairs, the down is very thick and silky. The color can have different shades of brown, ranging from light chestnut to brown. In nature, there are black representatives of beavers. The rodent molts from the last days of spring to the beginning of the winter period.

The rodent has small ears that are almost invisible among the fur, but at the same time it has excellent hearing. Relatively small eyes are equipped with a transparent nictitating membrane, the so-called "third eyelid". This device protects the organs of vision of the animal when immersed under water, allowing you to see clearly in the aquatic environment.

The outgrowths on the lips close behind powerful incisors protruding forward, which makes it possible to gnaw under water.

In the area of ​​the anus there are wen, paired glands and a beaver stream, which emits a strongly smelling secret - it is a red-brown, yellow-brown or dark soft mass. With the help of her beaver marks the territory and communicates.

Lifestyle

The shores of slowly flowing rivers, lakes, ponds and other calm water bodies serve as a haven for rodents. Mammals avoid fast and wide rivers. In addition, they do not settle on the banks of shallow reservoirs, which can freeze to the very bottom in winter.

Representatives of the rodent squad are excellent swimmers and divers. Air supplies are provided by the large lungs and liver. A beaver can stay under water for up to 15 minutes, while overcoming a distance of more than 700 meters. However, on the shore, the animals are very slow and clumsy.

Mammals live mainly in families, consisting of an average of 5-8 individuals, including a pair of adult beavers: a male and a female, young rodents are the offspring of the current and previous years. There are also solitary beavers.

Rodents are monogamous animals, the female dominates in the family. Once a year, she brings offspring. The mating season of beavers falls at the end of January and lasts until the end of February, while the mating itself takes place in the water under a layer of ice.

Pregnancy lasts about three and a half months. The litter can be from one to six cubs, which are born half-blind, but well pubescent. Their average weight is 450 grams. After a couple of days, little beavers are able to swim. When they reach the age of three or four weeks, there is a transition to a plant-based diet. But the female continues to feed the beaver cubs with her fat milk for up to three months. Rodents reach sexual maturity only at the age of two years.

An important condition for the comfortable living of animals is the presence of deciduous trees and various shrubs on the banks. They also need a lot of aquatic herbaceous vegetation, which is their main diet.

The area of ​​the coastal site occupied by the family can serve as a home for several subsequent generations. The length of the family plot on large bodies of water can reach almost 3 km. The length directly depends on the amount of food. Rodents do not go far from the aquatic environment.

If the animal is in danger, then the rodent, which is in the water, slaps its flat tail on the water surface and dives. This behavior serves as a wake-up call for the rest of the family.

Mammals are active at night. In summer, beavers can stay awake until six in the morning. When the period of stockpiling for the winter begins, in autumn, they remain active until 12 noon. In the cold season, beavers rarely come to the surface from their shelters. In severe frosts, animals do not get out at all.

It is worth noting that in natural habitats, the rodent lives on average 15 years, in captivity this figure doubles. There are cases when a beaver lived up to 35 years.

Dams and huts

A skillful engineer who creates structures that confirm the presence of not only a highly developed intellect, but also traces of a consciously working mind.

Beavers live in huts or burrows, the entrance to which is located under water for safety purposes. In steep banks, animals make holes resembling a labyrinth, which has up to five entrances. The ceiling and walls of the dwelling are carefully leveled and compacted. A dwelling place is made at a depth of no more than a meter, its height is 50 cm, and its height is about a meter. A prerequisite is that the floor must be 0.2 meters above the water level. In the case when water rises, the rodent lifts the floor, scraping the necessary earth from the ceiling.

Huts are built by rodents in places where there is no way to dig a hole. They are a pile of brushwood held together by earth and silt. The hut has a conical shape and reaches a diameter of 12 meters and a height of three meters. The walls of such housing are carefully smeared with silt and clay, as a result of construction, an impregnable fortress is obtained with manholes into the water and an air hole in the ceiling.

In reservoirs where there is a change in water level, rivers and streams, beavers build dams, better known as dams. It is they who help regulate the water level so that the entrances to the dwellings are not drained and do not become easily accessible to predators.

Dams are made from tree trunks, branches, fastened together with clay, silt and other improvised natural materials that rodents carry in their front paws or teeth. With the rapid flow of the reservoir, stones are actively used.

Rodents stick branches and trunks vertically into the bottom, strengthening the distance between them with branches, and filling the voids with stones, silt, and clay. As a basis for construction, beavers quite often use a tree that has fallen into the water, which is subsequently lined with building material. The shape of the structure depends on the speed of the current. If it is small, then the dam is straight; with a fast current, the dam is curved in its direction. Beavers closely monitor the state of the dam and, in case of destruction, repair it, eliminating the leak.

The beaver family is represented by a single genus - beavers, in which there are only two species - beaver and beaver. Both species have similar habits, appearance, habitat. The only difference is that the common beaver inhabits the Eurasian continent, while the Canadian beaver inhabits North America.

Previously, it was believed that the Canadian beaver is only a subspecies of the common beaver. However, later studies showed that they have a difference in the number of chromosomes - the common beaver has 48, the Canadian beaver has 40.

The beaver is one of the largest rodents in Eurasia - - its length ranges between 90 and 130 cm, the Canadian beaver is slightly smaller. The weight of the animal reaches 35 kg.

The body of the beaver is elongated, covered with thick dark brown, sometimes black fur. Beavers are good swimmers, on land they are much less agile. Webbing between the fingers and a long flat tail help them move in the water.

Another interesting adaptation for aquatic life in the beaver is the isolation of the incisors from the rest of the oral cavity, which allows the animal to gnaw underwater without fear of choking.

beaver dwellings

Beavers settle on the banks of reservoirs with dense vegetation along the banks, spending most of their time in the water. There are two types of beaver dwellings: burrows and structures called huts.

Beavers burrow in steep banks. Usually this is a central living chamber and an extensive network of passages ending in several exits. It is noteworthy that the exit is always organized under water to protect the home from predators.

Huts are built where it is impossible to dig holes - on swampy soil, low banks or shallows. The hut is a conical structure made of brushwood with a base diameter of up to ten meters, and a height of up to three. The walls of the hut are reinforced with clay.

Inside the hut there is a room above the water level and several exits. Air enters such a dwelling through a small hole in the ceiling. Entrances, as well as in a hole, are placed under water.

Thus, to protect their dwellings, beavers need a fairly deep body of water. If the depth of the stream or river is not enough, the animals build dams.

Platinum

To maintain the water level in the beaver town, rodents build dams. The building material is tree trunks, brushwood, sometimes stones. The structure is held together with silt and clay. A drain is arranged from one edge of the platinum.

The record for the longest dam is held by the Canadian beaver. In the north of the USA in the state of New Hampshire, a dam more than 1200 meters long was discovered.

The usual size of platinum is 20-30 meters in length. The width at the base is 4-6 meters, at the top - 1-2 meters. The height of the structure is usually about two meters.

Beavers are closely watching the erected dam. In case of damage, the animals repair the structure, since the safety of the entire settlement depends on it.