By Mary Parker Sonis
For hundreds of years, beavers (Castor canadensis) ruled the waterways of the United States and Canada. They did an excellent job as our resident wetland engineers. The demand for beaver pelts in the 18th and 19th centuries was one of the driving forces in the westward expansion of Canada and the United States, as their lush, dense fur was highly prized for its use in the fur and hat industries.
In the U.S., the beaver was so extensively hunted and trapped that by the beginning of the 20th century beavers had been completely extirpated from North Carolina and many other states. Our Bolin Creek population descended from a few beavers that were reintroduced from Pennsylvania in the 1930s.
It is surprising that some people still regard our largest North American rodent as a pest. Humans and beavers are the only animals that actively change their environment; however, only the beaver can be relied upon to consistently improve the environment. When a beaver dams a waterway to establish a deep pond, the end result is an increased area of open water, and extensive wetlands, with multiple channels. These wetlands are not only great nesting sites for waterfowl and other wildlife, but they slow the flow of a stream, which mitigates erosion while removing sediment and pollutants from the water. The presence of beaver colonies has a positive effect on fish populations as well.
My own introduction to our local beavers occurred about four years ago. While taking an evening walk in back of my house, I came upon an adult beaver swimming quietly in the main channel of Bolin Creek. The next day, I investigated further and discovered the creekside lodge of the beaver family. I listened closely at the edge of the lodge and heard a sweet mewing sound, not unlike the call of a guinea pig. An adult quieted the kit with soft, low murmurs.
The beaver family is as charming in disposition as it is in appearance. The family that I have observed consists of a mated pair of adults, a 2-year-old offspring (who lives in a mini-lodge about 25 yards downstream of the main lodge), a single yearling from last spring and, as of last week, an unknown number of new kits. The family is very attentive and affectionate with each other. In one of my first encounters with the beavers, I was standing at creek’s edge when the female beaver glided downstream past me. She saw me and froze. She did not slap her tail in alarm, but quietly circled back upstream toward the lodge. My first thought was that I would not see her again that evening. I remained in place, and in a few minutes the female beaver returned with her mate in tow. She hung back a bit while her mate came to the water’s edge to check me out. She slowly came to her mate’s side and the pair gave me a good long look. I stood very still, and the beavers went back upstream together.
By now, the beavers are quite used to my visits. I love to watch them interact. The male and female will often eat at separate channels, but when they pass each other in the creek, they pause to touch noses. When the kit whimpers, a parent will quietly reassure the youngster with a nose touch and perhaps a share of the particular stick they are stripping of bark. I have never witnessed any act of aggression between family members. Occasionally, I will see the adult pair canoodling at creeks edge. They gently touch noses and cheeks together when they meet, and then go about their grazing.
The diet of the beaver consists of cambium (the soft inner bark of trees), leaves, water roots and buds. To obtain food, the beaver trundles slowly onto land and cuts down a branch from a favored shrub, which it then drags back to the water to remove the bark and leaves. In spring and summer, the beaver also grazes on land. Once a branch is stripped of food, the wood can then be cut into manageable pieces and used for dam and lodge construction. They are very capable loggers. Last week, I timed the female beaver as she cut a honeysuckle branch at its base. It took her 15 seconds to chew through a 1-inch-diameter piece of wood. Using her deft front paws to maneuver the branch, she then dragged her meal back to the creek in her jaws.
Beavers are superb swimmers, with large webbed hind feet that they use to propel themselves through the water. While swimming, the beaver uses both hind feet in unison while keeping the front paws tucked beneath its body. The tail is used for a rudder, but not for propulsion. It is also used to warn family members of impending danger. If an adult whacks its tail, all the beavers submerge themselves in the creek.
Last week, I was standing at the creek’s edge watching the female adult groom herself on land, about 25 feet from where I stood. I was unaware that her mate was directly uphill grazing in the underbrush. He came closer and closer and finally saw me standing directly before him. I expected him to make a mad dash to the safety of the water, but instead of rushing off, he sat next to me and ate the greens he had collected. I stood very still and took some photographs. What an enormous creature! Out of the water, the bulk of this entirely herbivorous rodent is more evident. Male beavers can weigh more than 60 pounds, and the beaver sitting next to me must have weighed at least 50 pounds. His choice to sit beside me was probably not a companionable gesture, but more a claim of territory.
In the next few weeks, the new kits will be shyly swimming in Bolin Creek. As tiny kits, they are vulnerable to predation by coyotes, foxes and great horned owls, so they are likely to dive underwater at any moment. It will be a joy to follow a fourth generation of this peaceful family. With all that they offer, from balancing stream ecology to providing homes for wildlife, it is no surprise that Native Americans called the beaver “the sacred center.â€
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One reply on “FAUNA: Close Encounters of the Castor Kind”
Once again, Mary takes us on an exciting journey and makes us feel as if we’re standing right beside her. A marvelous read.