Transcript Beavers (Castor Canadensis)

Beavers
(Castor Canadensis)
Contents
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Range
Physical description
Behavior
Habitat
Ecosystem Role
Diet
Reproduction
Mortality
Range
• Found throughout
North America
• Except Florida,
southern
California, and
southern Nevada.
Physical Description
• Largest rodents
• Weight: 40-50 lbs
• Body (including tail):
48 inches in length
• Tail: 16-17 in. long, 67 in. wide, ¾ thick
Behavior
• Nocturnal
• Do not hibernate
• Territory marking
Habitat
Dams
• Access to food
supplies
• Protection from
predators
• Provide
underwater
entrances to
their den
• Build new dams
during spring
Lodges
• Only used for
safety
• Rest
• Give Birth
• Raise young
Ecosystem Role
• Maintain
wetlands
• Slow down the
flow of the
floodwaters.
• Improve water
quality
• Benefit other
species’ habitat
Diet
• Herbivore
• In warm months:
variety of aquatic
plants
• During fall and winter,
cambium layer of
trees, which is the
wood just under the
bark.
• Life expectancy:
about 10 -15 years
Reproduction
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Breeding season: Jan – Feb
Sexually mature at age 3
Give birth one litter of kits per year
Gestation is about 4 months
Both parents caring for the kits till they are
2 years old.
Mortality
• Humans
• Bears, wolves, lynx,
and otters
• External Parasites:
Platypsylla castoris
• Other causes of
death: winter weather,
winter starvation, and
disease