Wildlife rehabilitators find beavers to be gentle, reasoning beings who enjoy practical jokes. Tree cutting is part of nature's cycle and beaver pruning stimulates willows to regrow bushier than ever next spring. By damming streams, beaver raise the water level to surround their lodge with a protective moat, and also create the deep water needed for winter food storage in northern climes. While other wildlife endure wintertime cold and hunger, beaver stay warm in their lodges with an underwater food cache nearby. A beaver colony, can consist of six or more including parents, yearlings and kits, yet they peacefully coexist in a lodge with underwater access to the iced-up pond for four months or more.
Small kits have many predators including hawks, owls, bobcat, coyote and dogs.
Bear, wolves, dogs and coyote can also take adults. Like most wildlife, beaver self-regulate by starting to decrease their rate of reproduction when occupancy reaches a certain level. In vast areas without trapping, beaver populations may peak, and then slowly drift down to a sustainable level. Beaver in North America were almost extirpated due to trapping and draining of lands for agriculture by the early 1900s. Nonetheless, as beaver reclaim some former territory, conflicts with humans do arise.