Life at a Beaver Village
American Beaver Swimming Home
It’s pitch-black dark on an early summer morning and the beaver community is bustling with activity. As nocturnal and crepuscular animals, their day is about to wind down after the sun rises, but before they go to sleep, there are still several tasks that they need to finish, such as eating, taking care of the babies, grooming, and storing food.
Native to North America, American beavers are herbivores and their choice of food includes bark, green leaves, and aquatic plants. They pull off branches and twigs from plants along the banks of the water and either eat them on site or clasp hold of them in their mouths and swim back to their home, known as a den or lodge, and eat there. When eating, they hold branches with both hands and chew the bark off from one side to the other, in a way that resembles eating corn on the cob.
American beavers are monogamous, mates for life, and are very affectionate towards each other. They make whimpering sounds of affection as they greet and embrace each other. They often grab onto each other’s face and hold each other close in sweet displays of love, both in and out of the water. They are family oriented and will spend time together swimming, foraging for food, eating, grooming one another, and taking care of baby beavers, which are bred between January and March and born 120 days later. Baby beavers are born with fur, with their eyes open, and are able to swim within one week. The young may stay with their parents for up to 2 years.
A strong sense of community emanates from the beaver village. They care deeply for one another and are highly vigilant to protect each other. If a potential threat is perceived, a beaver will slap its tail loudly on the surface of the water to alert the others of potential danger.
Summer is a joyful time for beavers and they spend their free time swimming around leisurely, enjoying the water. However, they know that winter will be back again so they must prepare for it. Beavers are active in the winter, but their access to food may be limited amidst the ice and snow. To prepare for the harsh conditions, beavers spend time during the summer storing food for the winter. They collect branches and stick them in the mud at the bottom of the water, creating a reserve inventory of wood for the winter.
American beavers, which live 10-15 years in the wild, are incredibly smart and resourceful builders. Through their ingenious construction efforts, they can transform a landscape into an intricate, thriving beaver village. Their habitat includes rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes, in elevations up to 10,000 feet where water and trees are present. They build dams that shift the flow of water and create ponds, in the heart of which they may build a large wooden home using branches and mud. The entryway into their home is underwater. As they swim towards their home, they suddenly dive underwater and disappear. A moment later, you can hear beaver voices coming from inside the home as the beavers reunite with their loved ones inside.
Early morning twilight sets in and the beavers work to complete their final task - home repairs. Living in a house on the water is not easy. It is in constant need of maintenance to keep it functioning. Beavers regularly add new branches to strengthen the outer walls of the house and replace branches that may have drifted away. The interior of the house is also in continual need of repair and maintenance. Inside, beavers work with their hands to fortify the interior walls and floor. You can often hear shifting, rustling sounds coming from inside the lodge as they work on these home repairs.
Although life at a beaver village is hard work, beavers do also know how to have fun. They are very playful and take time to play with each other. They play fight in the water, wrestle, and chase each other around. They are gentle to one another and will also swim up to one another for a beaver hug.
As the sun rises higher in the sky, one-by-one the beavers start heading home to go to bed. The bustling beaver village becomes peaceful and still. The diurnal animals and people come out, but there are no signs of beaver life. Their precious little world is tucked in under the cover of the night.
