Brilliant beavers

In the autumn, beavers will be busy creating a food cache in preparation for winter, to ensure they have enough to eat over the colder months. This will consist of branches and twigs, stored underwater by pushing them into the floor at the bottom of a waterbody, close to the entrance to their lodge.

Known as nature’s engineers, beavers can create natural solutions to some of the environment’s biggest problems. Their dams have the potential to protect against flooding, help prevent drought, hold back silt which captures carbon, and clean our water supply by filtering out sediments and pollutants. Even the act of creating a dam, by gnawing down trees, encourages new growth among light-seeking plants, boosting botanical diversity and attracting a host of invertebrates.

SEE THEM THIS AUTUMN AND WINTER

Look out for the following signs along our region’s waterways:

† A beaver lodge, which is a large pile of branches beside a watercourse

† Gnawed wood, particularly a log or branch that has been gnawed to a “pencil tip” point

† A large, long footprint, clearly showing the outline of their webbed hind feet

Thank you!

Thanks to your support, we’re able to encourage our local beaver population and make sure everyone to follows The Beaver Code. Find out more at avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/beavers