The Lifecycle of a Beaver in its Natural Habitat
Beavers can be found throughout Canada, found most often in ponds, lakes and slow-moving rivers and creeks close to forested areas. What few may know is that beavers are naturally social creatures, despite their elusiveness. Approximately 20 per cent of Alberta’s surface area is covered by wetlands, while more than 90 per cent of these are peatlands. They can be found throughout the province, with exception for high elevation sites such as in the Rocky Mountain Region and the driest parts of the Grassland Natural Region. Beavers live in colonies, consisting of two parental adults, the yearlings born the year before, and newborn kits. Prior to the birth of new young, two-year-old beavers are forced to leave the colony to create lives of their own. In beaver life, the social unit usually consists of four to eight related beavers, dominated by the adult female and male. They live relatively active lives as beavers tend to stay busy, building either a dam or lodge, or gathering a food cache to feed themselves in the winter. Beavers also stay active all year round. They are one of the few animals capable of altering their environment, often supporting the ecosystem positively by doing so. Beavers actually look to create and maintain their own ideal habitat by creating wetlands through their building, which becomes the home of other waterdependent animals as well. Beavers build dams of sticks and mud across streams and slow rivers, large cone-shaped lodges, either in deep water or near the bank. These lodges become their primary homes, although abandoned lodges quickly become the homes of various other wildlife. The beaver pond has a great ecological impact on the surrounding habitat, as the rise in water could cause the death of some trees. The trees, in turn, become a shelter for various bird species that would otherwise not live in the area. The pond acts as something of a reservoir, preventing runoff water during heavy rains and maintaining a slowly flowing stream Over time, beaver ponds fill with sediment, and eventually become less useful to them, causing a colony to abandon their home and move either further up or downstream. As mentioned above, beavers are social creatures, and in areas with abundant food and resources, multiple beaver families are likely at large. They typically avoid predators by diving under water, but also work to protect each other by alerting when predators are nearby. They do this by slapping their tails hard against the water, notifying others of the potential danger. Contrary to popular belief, beavers do not live in the dam structures they build - rather, they live in carefully constructed lodges. The lodge is a mound of sticks, moss and grass carefully woven together and solidified with mud, that increasingly grows with each passing year. Beavers may lay bark, grass and wood chips down on the floor and sometimes add additional storerooms.