In places where the water is deep enough to meet the needs of beaver without their having to build dams, the beaver affect plants and other animals less than in areas where dams have to be built. The activities of beaver may in some such places be detrimental to man. The supposition that the beaver family consists of the parents, yearlings and kits is wideliy accepted by most authorities. A colony consists of one or more families. The number of individual animals per colony varies from 1 to 12 or more, depending upon conditions.
Researches agree that five is near the average number of individuals per colony.
Because of the natural tendencies of beaver to disperse, newer colonies consist of smaller numbers. An established and active colony may consist of only one individual beaver. The weight of the individual beaver gives a fair indication of its age. After gaining weights up to 30 pounds, the rate of increase and the weight both depend to a great extent upon the individual characterisitics of the animal. Beaver mate and have young when three years old.