IDENTIFICATION

The beaver is the largest North 

American rodent. Most adults 

weigh between 35 and 50 

pounds, with some reaching 70 

to 100 pounds. The beaver is a 

stocky rodent adapted for 

aquatic environments. A beaver 

has a nose and ears that seal out 

water. It may remain 

submerged for up to 15 minutes. 

Its lips close behind the four large 

incisor teeth so it can eat 

underwater. All four feet have five 

toes. The hind feet are webbed 

between the toes for swimming. 

A split second claw on each hind 

foot is used for combing through 

their fur. The front feet are small 

in comparison to the hind feet. 

Beaver fur has long shiny guard 

hairs that repel water. The fur has 

dense, soft underfur that provides 

warmth. Beavers range in color 

from yellowish brown to black, 

with reddish brown the most 

common color. 

Beavers have broad, flat tails. The 

tail is almost hairless. It is used 

as a prop while the beaver is sitting upright and for a rudder when 

swimming. Beavers also 

use their tail to warn others 

of danger by 

slapping the surface of 

the water. Beaver store 

fat in their tail for winter 

survival.

The beaver’s large front 

(incisor) teeth are bright 

orange on the front and 

grow continuously throughout 

their life. These teeth are beveled 

so that they are continuously 

sharpened as the beaver gnaws

and chews while feeding, girdling, and cutting trees. 

HABITAT

Beavers can live anywhere there 

is a year-round source of water. 

Beavers build dams to change 

their environment more to their 

liking. Besides humans, only 

beaver create their own habitat by 

building dams. Beavers use whatever materials are available to 

build dams. This includes trees, 

woody bushes, fencing materials, 

bridge planking, rocks, wire, corn 

stalks, etc. 

FOOD

Beavers are herbivores. They 

eat mostly woody plants. They 

may eat aspen, cottonwood, 

willow, sweetgum, black gum, 

black cherry, poplar and pine. 

Sometimes they eat crops like 

corn and soybeans. They also 

eat aquatic plants. 

HABITS

Beavers are very social animals. 

They live in families or extended 

family units called colonies. 

Colonies are made up of adults, 

yearlings (beaver born the 

previous year) and this year’s 

young. Young beavers are called 

kits. Beavers will have 2 to 4 kits 

each year. Colonies range from 4 

to 10 animals. Beavers are nocturnal, which means they are 

most active

North America Range

Beavers are found throughout North 

America. The only areas they are not 

found are the arctic tundra, most of 

peninsular Florida, and the southwestern 

desert areas. Beavers can live anywhere 

aquatic habitats are found. Beavers once 

lived in Europe and northern Asia. They 

became extinct in the British Isles in the 

12th century. Today, beaver can be found 

in Norway, Poland, and Russia.

Castor canadensis

The European beaver is nearly identical to the American beaver. However, European beavers have no

interest in building dams. Instead, they dig burrows in stream banks. 

front foot hind foot

Marks of the webs are not always visi6 inches
It is possible to control damage done by beaver. 

Some of the control methods are: 

• installing fences and barriers around culverts, drains, structures and trees 

to keep beavers away 

• painting trees with a sand and paint mixture that discourages beavers from 

chewing the trees 

• using electric fencing to discourage 

beavers from staying in an area

• using electric shock in the pond to 

repel the beaver

• removing small trees and woody 

vegetation that beavers eat to make a 

place undesirable to them 

• plugging water drainage

• removing their dams may encourage 

beavers to move elsewhere

• installing a beaver pond leveler, 

three-log drain, or other device to 

maintain desired water level

• capturing and relocating the beavers

• shooting or trapping the beavers.

Living in harmony . . .

Most of the time, beavers and humans live in 

harmony.

• Beavers create wetland habitat for other wildlife like birds, fish, insects, amphibians and 

other mammals.

• Beaver dams help reduce erosion and 

sedimentation in rivers and streams.

• Beavers provide a valuable fur resource.

• Beaver ponds create diverse aquatic ecosystems.

• Beavers can provide valuable habitat for 

endangered animals and plants.

• Beavers can provide natural irrigation ponds. 

Living in conflict . . .

• Beaver dams can cause flooding of crops 

and roads.

• Beavers can spread disease, for example, 

giardia in drinking water.

• Beavers can cause damage to forests and 

landscaping.

• Beavers can dam irrigation canals 

preventing water from flowing to farmland.

• Beavers can undermine dams and roads built 

by humans.

• Beavers can cause problems for some 

endangered plants and animals. 

In the 1700s and 1800s hats made from beaver were very popular. The people who made these hats used

arsenic in tanning the hides. They became ill. This is where the phrase “Mad as a hatter” developed.
Dilemma . . . what would you do?

A road that many of the students from your 

school have to cross each day is flooded 

because of a dam built by beaver. The water is a 

foot deep in many places. Cars have to slow 

down when they travel through the water. Even 

with the cars slowing down, many students have 

been splattered with water. It will soon be winter 

and everyone is discussing what 

happens when the water turns to ice. What 

solutions do you recommend? 

RESEARCH

Beavers are rodents. Research rodents. What 

other animals are classified as rodents? Make a 

list of several rodents and describe how these 

rodents are similar to and describe how they are 

different from beaver. Which rodents would you 

expect to find living around you? Why do you 

think you would find them there? What type of 

habitat do they need? Where is the nearest 

place you might find a beaver?

The types of conflicts beavers cause include damaging 

roads by flooding; damaging timber by girdling trees; killing trout by destroying free-flowing streams and rivers; 

damaging property by chewing fences, decks, trees and 

shrubs; and damaging crops. Beaver in North Carolina 

cause over $3.7 million damage annually to 

timber, crops and roadways. For every $1.00 invested in 

controlling beaver, the public saves $5.80 in North 

Carolina. Mississippi experiences $1.6 million in reported 

damage to roads and another $1.6 million in damage to 

timber. By removing beaver, Wisconsin has restored 751 

miles of trout streams for a value of $617,000. In the 

southeast, damage by beavers amounts to over $100 

million each year. 

Across: 4. persevere, 7. giardia, 10. incisors, 12. girdling, 13 rodent, 14 industrious

DOWN: 1. fur, 2. diversity, 3. gnawing, 5. ecosystem, 6. sedimentation, 8. aquatic, 9. erosion, 11. irrigation

The name beaver is from an old Native American word 

Mni, which means brown and refers to the animal’s fur. 

Because of the beaver’s astounding ability to build dams, 

sometimes replacing an entire dam overnight, this remarkable mammal has come to represent industriousness and perseverance. Beavers also 

symbolize gentleness and wisdom in some cultures. 

The beaver has been of 

economic and religious 

importance to 

many native 

people of 

North 

America. For thousands of years Indians utilized beaver 

for its meat and fur. It has also been part of their religious 

ceremonies. In the 16th and 17th centuries, beaver became an important commodity in the trade between Indians and early settlers. The beaver trade helped lead to 

the exploration of North America.

Cherokee children participated in a tradition that reflects 

their respect for the beaver. When a Cherokee child’s first 

tooth fell out, the youngster took it in his or her hand and 

ran around the outside of his or her house four times saying, “Da, yi skinta” which means, “Beaver, put a new 

tooth into my jaw.” Upon completion of the running, the 

child threw the tooth onto the roof of the house. This ritual 

was believed to make the new tooth come in straight and 

strong. The beaver was invoked because of its outstanding ability to gnaw through even the hardest wood. 

The beaver is the emblem of the state of Oregon. It is often used as a symbol of Canada. The first Canadian 

 postage stamp issued in 1851 was a “three-penny 

 beaver.”
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This activity sheet has been developed by USDA Wildlife Services. For more information about beavers 

contact your state’s Wildlife Services office or USDA Wildlife Services at (301) 734-7921. 

Wildlife Activity Book and

1998 Wildlife Issue

Colorado Reader

Colorado Foundation for 

Agriculture 

P.O. Box 10

Livermore, CO 80536

Prevention and Control of 

Wildlife Damage CD ROM

or Handbook

202 Natural Resource Hall

University of Nebraska

P.O. Box 83819

Lincoln, NE 68583

Jack H. Berryman Institute

for Wildlife Damage 

Management

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 83431-5210

ACROSS

4. to keep on trying to 

accomplish something

7. disease that can get into 

water

10. front teeth of beavers (p l)

12. when beavers gnaw around 

tree trunks

13. beavers are this type of 

animal

14. hard working

DOWN

1. the hair on beaver is called 

this

2. to make diverse

3. beavers chewing on trees

5. organisms and their 

environment

6. the process of matter 

settling to the bottom of a 

liquid

8. having to do with water 

ecosystems

9. when wind or water moves 

soil from the ground

11. humans moving water to 

bring it to crops

• One of the largest beaver dams ever recorded was 

2,140 feet long.

• The giant beaver which inhabited North America during the Pleistocene age weighed about 900 pounds 

and was 9 feet long.

• The sound of running water triggers dam building instinct in beavers.