The beaver can block its throat with the back of its tongue and the lips can close behind the incisors to allow for carrying branches underwater without choking. The beaver's diet changes seasonally. In spring and summer, they feed on grasses, leaves, ferns, and algae. In fall, they prefer woody items. Their winter food is stored underwater near the lodge.
Beavers live in families that include an adult pair and one to three years worth of offspring.
The kits are born in late spring and can swim within a few hours. Due to their small size and dense fur, they are too buoyant to submerge and are unable to swim out of the underwater entrance to the lodge. Beavers actively scent mark with castoreum and secretions from their anal glands. This produces an odor that is musty and pungent. The dam is built across a stream using mud, stones and sticks.