Imagine you were in the middle of a lake and you saw a brown furry head with large buck teeth sticking out of the water. You have just met a beaver. The beaver is a large rodent. The beaver is brown with a flat black tail. It weighs 30-110 pounds. The beaver is two to three feet long. Its flat tail helps it swim. The tail is nearly hairless, is scaly, and is a dull-black color. Its front feet are short and have heavy claws. Its front feet are for feeding, grooming, digging, and lodge construction. The beaver's hind legs are large and have fully webbed feet.
Habitat
Beavers live in forests in North America and in parts of Europe and Asia. The beaver lives on land and in water. The dams that beavers live in are also called lodges. The lodges are made out of trees, twigs and mud. The beavers' lodges only have underwater entrances. Beavers cut down trees for their homes.
Food
The beaver eats aspen trees and willow trees. It eats tree bark, leaves, roots, twigs and water plants. The beaver gets its food with its sharp front paws and its sharp teeth. Beavers are vegetarians.
Life
Beavers can have up to 3 to 4 babies. Their babies are called kits. Their enemies are coyotes, wolves, bears, lynxes and wolverines. Beavers can swim 5 miles an hour. Beavers are born between April to early July.
Interesting Facts
Beavers can swim under water for 15 minutes. Their teeth continue to grow throughout their lives. Their ears and nostrils close when they are swimming underwater. While swimming, beavers transparent eyelids protect their eyes. Beavers move faster in water than on land.
by Harrison and Amanda
