Understanding the Beaver

“Daddy, Daddy, look. Look at that big brown fish in the water! It’s huge, Daddy.” Marco Sanders, the eight-year-old in the back of the van, pointed wildly out the window.

His dad laughed. “No, Marco, that’s not a fish. That’s a beaver. They live in the water like fish but they can also live out of the water.”

“So they like to swim like me?” Marco asked. He pressed his face against the window so he could see better.

“Yep, son, they sure do. Just like you.”

“Tell me more, Daddy! I wanna know about the beaver!”

If you’re like Marco, and want to know more about the beaver, then enjoy these five fun facts about the animal that enjoys swimming probably as much as you do:

~~A beaver has HUGE front teeth! They’re so big, they will probably be one of the first things you notice. Big teeth help the beaver to chew through trees.

~~Beavers like to eat plants. They enjoy eating trees and plants and don’t eat meat. So no cooking hamburgers for beavers!

~~You probably sleep at night and play during the day. But beavers are the opposite. They usually sleep during the day and hang out with other beavers during the night. They are nocturnal animals – meaning they are awake at night.

~~When it’s raining, you wear a rain jacket so you don’t get wet. Well, beavers don’t have to wear jackets – their fur is waterproof just like your jacket.

~~Beavers like to build dams. Just like you might enjoy building a fort in your backyard, beavers build dams out of trees and mud in the rivers and lakes where they live. They can even build hollow dams, called lodges, to sleep in. They’re great builders.

 

Beavers are pretty awesome so be on the look-out for one. If you’re lucky, you might even see one building a dam.