### animal | vertebrate | mammal | rodent:

Beaver
* All beavers have two pairs of unusual glands at the base of the tail
  - very sharp, large front teeth that they use for cutting
* Most beavers affect arthropod communities
* Most beavers alter habitats
  - landscapes
  - build dams
  - collect food
* Most beavers construct dams
  - shelter
  - wooden shelter
* Most beavers consume foliage
  - roots
* Most beavers create bluebird habitats
  - forest habitats
  - ideal habitats
  - wetland habitats
  - depend on their ponds as places to meet all living, food, and protection needs
  - develop senses
* Most beavers eat aquatic plants
  - bark
  - diets
  - trees
  - vegetable diets
  - feed on bark
  - go into dams
* Most beavers have anal glands
  - bones
  - characteristics
  - coats
  - ears
  - epiglottises
  - eyelids
  - flaps
  - flat tails
  - incisors
  - innate ability
  - inner flaps
  - life
  - lungs
  - many places
  - materials
  - nasal bones
  - nephrons
  - peculiar characteristics
  - prominent incisors
  - scaly tails
  - skulls
  - social skills
  - stumps
  - transparent eyelids
* Most beavers inhabit areas
  - streams
  - water
* Most beavers live for many years
  - look larger than they really are because of their humped backs and thick fur
  - occupy streams
  - produce milk
  - reach adulthood
* Most beavers require deep water
* Most beavers search for habitats
  - suitable habitats
* Most beavers survive in habitats
  - natural habitats
  - use incisors
  - utilize dams
  - weigh pounds
* Some beavers alter paths
  - are killed by coyotes
  - attack humans
  - build entrances
  - carry parasites
  - defend territory
* Some beavers eat bark twigs
  - dead fish
  - feed on leaves
  - have thin films
  - leave homes
* Some beavers live in Europe and Asia
  - north american states
  - mate for life
  - seem to like to girdle large pines and sweet-gums
* abound, and numerous migratory waterfowl build their nests in the river basin
  - creating temporary wetlands that provide habitat for many other species
* actively scent mark with castoreum and secretions from their anal glands.
* add to habitat diversity through their foraging and dam-building activities.
* also build canals to float building materials that are difficult to haul over land
  - burrow into banks which causes an erosion problem on ditch banks
  - carry a protozoan called giardia
  - cause problems in subdivisions and along public roads and bridges
  - create open spots in riparian forests, leading to a more varied forest structure
* also eat shrubs, ferns, aquatic plants, grasses, and crops, including corn and beans
  - water plants, and especially like the roots and tender sprouts of water lilies
  - have anal and castor glands, which they use to mark their territory
* also help shape riparian habitat
  - to protect water quality by slowing stream flows
  - live in and around the lake
  - play an important fole in the formation of some marshes
  - store fat in their tails for the long, cold winters
  - symbolize gentleness and wisdom in some cultures
* also use their tail to warn others of danger by abruptly slapping the surface of the water
  - others of danger by slapping the surface of the water
* are a common sight along the marshy wetlands of East Texas and Southeast Texas
  - active at all hours, but they can be seen mostly in the mornings or evenings
* are active in several spots
  - the wetlands, ponds, and brooks
  - usually in morning and evening
  - year round
* are also abundant
  - among the species which can be hunted only with rifles
  - important in the management of river and wetland habitats
* are among the biggest of rodents
  - largest of the rodents
  - animals
  - as big as modern day bears
  - beard
  - capable of building dams across virtually any stream or small river
  - crepuscular, meaning they are active at the twilight times of dawn and dusk
  - drawn with white incisors
  - ecosystem engineers
  - engineering geniuses, building both dams and lodges during their busy lifetimes
  - extremely important for our forests
  - famous for the construction of dams
  - from five to seven years old, usually in kindergarten, grade one, or grade two
  - generally active only in the early moniing or evening
  - gentle social animals that have a strong inhibition against biting
  - gentle, reasoning beings who enjoy playing practical jokes
  - hard for an animal to kill because they can dodge into one of their plunge holes
  - herbivores
  - incredibly beneficial to the environment
  - known for building and keeping dams in rivers
* are large, aquatic, partly nocturnal rodents
  - compact rodents with flat, leathery tails
* are located in beaver dams
  - beds
  - bodies of water
  - books
  - cartoons
  - countrysides
  - dens
  - dictionaries
  - earth
  - faces
  - fresh water
  - history
  - huts
  - jungle
  - mackinaws
  - maines
  - museums
  - nature
  - new jerseys
  - parks
  - small rivers
  - stew
  - strip clubs
  - traps
  - wildernesses
  - wooded areas
  - woodlands
  - zoos
  - near dams
  - mainly nocturnal
  - mammals
  - members of the rodent family
  - monogamous and produce only one litter per year, usually in late spring or early summer
  - monogamous, living in family groups in lodges or in pond banks
  - no different
  - nocturnal animals
* are nocturnal, but are occasionally active during the day
  - which means they are most active at night
  - numerous and destructive to trees by the river
  - on of the largest rodents on earth
  - one of Missouri's most common and least visible animals
  - part of helmets
  - people
  - present in all of Maine
* are primarily aquatic and are excellent swimmers
  - animals, and the largest rodents in North America
  - nocturnal but sometimes begin work in the afternoon
  - primary consumers
  - pure vegetarians, subsisting solely on woody and aquatic vegetation
  - related to mice, porcupines, rats, and squirrels
  - relatively short and squat, with are large rump
  - rodents, as are Norway rats and squirrels
  - semiaquatic
  - slow on dry land but quite mobile in the water
* are social animals and tend to live in large communities
  - strict vegetarians, and the aquatic vegetation that grows in ponds supplies summer food
  - the ONLY animal shown to be source of human disease
* are the largest rodents in North America and Eurasia, the only places they are found
  - second largest rodent
  - size of a puppy dog
  - youngest members of the Scouting community
  - typically social and peaceful animals, with a strong family structure
* are usually active from dusk to dawn cutting saplings and trees or shrubs to acquire food
  - monogamous, meaning they have one mate for life
  - vegetarian, eating water plants and willow bark, and grazing on grass
  - wary and often work at night
  - water dwelling animals
  - well-known for their engineering skills, particularly in building dams
* are, by nature's measuring stick, probably one of the most beneficial of all animals.
* become active at sunset and end their activity at sunrise
* bring about changes in drainage by building dams with branches and mud.
* build and maintain houses called lodges.
* build dams across mountain creeks and create small ponds and marshlands
  - as well
  - by falling trees
  - for two good reasons, food and protection
* build dams from earth, rocks, and wood
  - logs and mud if there are no open expanses of water to live in
  - in order to make the water too deep to freeze in winter
  - on streams and creeks
* build dams that change the course of streams and create ponds
  - to change their environment more to their liking
  - with their strong teeth and tails
* build dams, birds build nests
  - but they still have big teeth
  - transforming streams into ponds
* build lodges in marshes and other areas where the banks are too flat to dig bank dens
  - which to live and raise young
  - sophisticated lodges out of sticks and mud
  - their houses of brush and of trees that they cut down
* busily work on their dams and distinctive houses and cut tree limbs for their winter food.
* cache food for the long Alaskan winter by stock piling branches in their pond.
* can cause cause problems for some endangered plants and animals
  - extensive flooding and considerable damage by cutting trees
* can dam a stream to form a pond
  - irrigation canals preventing water from flowing to farmland
  - energetically afford to go only so far for their sources of food on land
  - hold their breath up to fifteen minutes
  - live anywhere aquatic habitats are found
  - make quite an impact on a meadow, like creating a lake
  - stay submerged for up to fifteen minutes
  - struggle underwater for up to twenty minutes before they drown
  - survive on grasses and tubers of water lilies
  - undermine dams and roads built by humans
  - usually control water depth and stability on small streams, ponds, and lakes
* cause damage
  - extensive damage
  - serious damage to roads across North America, primarily by plugging highway culverts
* change the landscape with the dams they build.
* conserve heat in the freezing water with a thick layer of fat covered with dense underfur.
* construct bank dens and lodges for shelter and for raising their young
  - their conical lodges across streams using mud, stones, sticks, and branches
* continue to grow throughout their lives.
* count on bevy of backs to carry load.
  - dams primarily out of mud and sticks to flood a particular habitable area
  - excellent habitat for other animals too, such as moose and waterfowl
  - meadows and ponds used by ducks, otters, moose, and other creatures
* create wetland habitat for other wildlife like
  - wetlands and expand riparian zones
* distinguish between dominant and subordinate intruders.
* do a lot of good work when they build their dams in the right places.
  - only plants
  - plant matter, bark, twigs, and buds of different trees
* eat the bark and build dams and lodges with the stems
  - off the trees
* eat the inner bark of trees, that is called the cambium layer
  - bark, twigs, leaves, and roots of trees and shrubs
  - cambium layer on willow, aspen, and poplars
* eat vegetable diets
* face problems.
* feed off of fish and waterfowl.
  - marsh grasses, roots, barks and twigs
  - their sweet bark and build dams with their branches
* flood small watersheds, killing trees and crops and causing excessive amounts of turbidity.
* fold their front legs under their chests while swimming.
* frequently reside by rivers.
* generally are willing partners on projects undertaken by humans, given the opportunity.
* give birth during the spring.
* have a highly organized social structure
  - short, small body with a broad, round head with small ears
  - special passage from their nose to their throat which connects to the upper lungs
  - unique winter survival strategy among Alaskan mammals
  - wide body
  - wide, flat tail that looks like a paddle and is covered by scaly skin
  - an average of four young once a year
  - broad, flat tails
  - build materials
  - few natural predators
  - fewer kits when occupancy reaches a certain level and food becomes scarce
  - fur that is rich chocolate brown with light gray and their teeth are orange and yellow
* have large webbed hind legs that act as paddles when they swim through the water
  - winter food piles which they store in deep water
* have long incisors that grow constantly
  - whiskers
  - long, sharp teeth known as incisors that are used for gnawing
* have many adaptations for their woody diet
  - uses for the trees that they cut down
  - noses and ears that close when the beaver is in the water
  - orange teeth
  - small front feet and large webbed hind feet
  - small, short ears and have been known to stand using their hind feet only
* have two eyelids, one for sleeping and one for swimming
  - other sacs, one on each side of the urogenital opening, which secrete an oil
  - very wide, flat tails, which serve important purposes on both land and water
  - wide, hairless, flat tails
* help children learn basic social skills and gain self-confidence.
* helps children learn basic social skills and gain self confidence.
* hide their food in underwater tunnels so they can make use of it in the long winter periods.
  - cells
  - vertebrate feet
* instinctively try to block or dam water that sounds like it is draining an area.
* lead their busy lives along woodland streams.
* learn to share belongings and experiences.
* like to eat young willows
  - stay out in the rain because their fur acts like a raincoat - keeps water out
  - swim around in ponds and lakes
* live along streams
  - and work nearby building in thickets of pine, popple and red alder
  - by rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes
  - closely within a family unit
* live in North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Finland, Siberia, and Mongolia
  - about half of all the counties of Illinois
* live in burrows in stream banks or lodges of mud, stones and tree branches
  - or in lodges in stream banks
  - close knit families in secure homes
  - colonies of four to ten
  - dens along the banks of the Colorado
  - families that include an adult pair and one to three years worth of offspring
  - forests in North America and in parts of Europe and Asia
* live in ponds, lakes, rivers, marshes, and streams all across North America
  - and streams all across the United States
  - rivers, streams, and freshwater lakes near woodlands
  - shelters called lodges
  - small family groups in or near fresh water
* live in the far north of Canada, western Canada, and on the prairies
  - lodges during both the summer and the winter
  - mostly in the uninhabited wilderness of the United States and Canada
* look like they enjoy swimming.
* love to eat the bark and leaves from the trees that they fell.
* maintain and defend territories, which are areas for feeding, nesting and mating
  - wetlands that can slow the flow of floodwaters
* make a dam foundation by wedging large branches or logs into the bottom of the stream bed
  - funny noises like a bark
  - large mud and wood lodges that they stay in when the pond behind the dam freezes
  - their dams out of, mud, sticks, stones, and debris
* mark territory.
* modify waterways, creating wetland habitat and flooding uplands.
* move in and out of the area as their food sources become abundant or scarce
  - onto land to cut woody vegetation both for building materials and for food
  - to locations
* often build dams in waterways containing populations of federally-protected fish
  - enormous lodges of sticks and logs which protrude above the water
  - their dams in places that cause problems for people
  - leave scent mounds along the shores of streams and ponds
  - use scent mounds along the shore
* only chew on wood.
* open eyes.
* possess design features
* possess other amaze features
* prefer slow waters.
* prosper in maple, aspen and willow environments.
* provide a valuable fur resource
  - natural irrigation ponds
  - valuable habitat for endangered animals and plants
* push out their boundary and make dams.
* range in color from yellowish brown to black, with reddish brown the most common color.
  - their peak of activity after the snow has melted and the spring rains begin
* reproduce sexually.
* respond to intrusion.
* run wild.
* seek territory.
* seem to keep the same mate for life.
* slap their tails on the water to give a warning.
* start construction by diverting the stream to lessen the water's flow pressure
  - their lives with their eyes wide open and with all their fur
* store food for winter use.
* take only one mate during their lifetime
  - turns cutting down large trees with their their ever growing teeth
* tend to make areas even more inviting for otters
  - remain near the lodge with the approach of dawn
  - select trees within a hundred yard radius of their building grounds
* think to build dams and huts.
* travel good distances from their homes to find food.
* typically start building dams in low lying areas with shallow, moving water.
* use black cottonwood for food and building materials
  - castoreum in combination with urine to scent mark territory
  - it for food and to build dams and lodges
* use mud and sticks to build dams
  - stones for the base of a dam
* use their forepaws to move mud and small stones from the stream bottom to the dam site
  - strong front teeth called incisors to cut down trees
  - tail as a rudder
  - teeth to cut down trees for their dams
  - whatever materials are available to build dams
* usually have a litter of four kits who live with their parents for two years
  - store enough food to stay put during the chilly months of winter
* work constantly building dams, storing food, and constructing homes
  - interdependently
  - mostly at night