Most commonly they eat the bark of certain hardwoods such as poplar, aspen, birch, cherry, willow, maple and alder. Aspen and pond weeds are their favorite natural foods. The beaver is the largest rodent in North America and second only to the Capybara in the American continents. Beavers are relatively short and squat, with are large rump. Each foot has five toes, with the hind feet being webbed to help the beaver swim.
Beavers have small, short ears and have been known to stand using their hind feet only.
Typically the tail is used to help balance the beaver while they perform this manuever. Beaver's outer hair is a dark chestnut brown. Usually their heads and underparts are slightly lighter than the rest of the body. This is not the case with the black subspecies of beaver. The two incisors in each jaw grow continuously as they are worn away.