Beavers

Kyle Butt, M.Div.

Design in Animals

In the United States of America, the beaver that many of us are likely the most familiar with could be the one that is associated with the largest gas station in the world. He wears a red hat, loves barbeque, and has a bathroom large enough to hold…well, a normal-sized gas station.

But real beavers are even more interesting (and much less likely to try to sell you 35 kinds of beef jerky). In this issue of Discovery, we are going to take a look at one of God’s most fascinating creations and try to learn as much as we can about its design, dam-building, diet, and daily life. 

THE DESIGN OF THE BEAVER

The beaver is the largest living rodent in North America, with the average adult beaver weighing about 40 pounds and measuring more than three feet in length (including the tail). Some beavers grow to be much larger, with the heaviest beaver on record weighing over 100 pounds (probably too many trips to Buc-ee’s®)! They have stocky bodies, dark-brown, waterproof fur, and their hind feet (which are webbed) are used for swimming. The hind feet of beavers also have something called a “preening toe” (the second toe from the inside), which they use to groom themselves. This toe is kind of like their “hairbrush,” and it helps them keep their fur clean and free from burrs or parasites. Their front feet are different from their back feet, having five separated “fingers” that can be used for digging, grasping, and carrying objects. 

The tail of a beaver can be short and wide, or it can be long and narrow. Their tails can grow to be up to 15 inches long and six inches wide. A beaver’s tail is covered with black, leathery scales, and it serves several purposes: (1) It helps the beaver swim faster (think about how much faster you can swim when you’re wearing swim fins!), (2) it helps the beaver balance its body when carrying something heavy, (3) it can store fat for the winter, (4) it is used to signal danger to other beavers when it is slapped on the water, and (5) it releases body heat, helping the beaver regulate its body temperature.  

Although they move awkwardly on land, beavers can swim up to six mph (about three times faster than the average human), and they can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes. This means that they can travel for over half a mile while under the water! How is this possible? God designed beavers with oversized lungs that can hold more air, and because their heartbeat slows down underwater, they need less oxygen. The beaver has also been designed to be waterproof, with its body producing a specific oil that is used to waterproof its fur. Its eyes and ears have special membranes and valves that allow it to stay submerged for extended periods of time, while still remaining functional. 

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The teeth of a beaver may be its most famous feature. A beaver’s teeth are self-sharpening and can cut down a willow tree the width of a person’s finger in a single bite! You may have also noticed that a beaver’s teeth are an orange color. Is this because they’ve been eating too many Cheetos? No, this is because God designed a beaver’s teeth to be stronger than normal by building more iron into the enamel of its teeth (kind of like “body armor” for teeth). This makes its teeth perfect for doing exactly what beavers do: cutting down trees. Beavers usually prefer to cut down small trees (two-to-six inches in diameter), but beavers have been known to fell trees as wide as 33 inches, and, theoretically, they could cut down a tree of any size. 

THE DAM-BUILDING OF THE BEAVER

Beavers are one of the few animals that can modify their habitat, building watertight dams from sticks, rocks, reeds, branches, and mud. Beavers build dams for a variety of reasons: (1) Protection from predators, (2) Better access to their food supply, (3) To provide a “pond” to live in and underwater entrances to their den. A beaver dam can vary in size, from something relatively small to a structure that can be up to 10 feet high and over 165 feet wide. The largest beaver dam (located in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada) is visible from space and measures over 2,500 feet long! Beavers are excellent maintainers of their dams, keeping them repaired and in good condition in order to keep their habitat suitable. If a beaver lives on a body of water that stays at a constant level (such as a lake or a large river), they do not build dams. 

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In terms of where they live, beavers build dome-like lodges that can be up to 6.5 feet high and almost 40 feet wide. These lodges can have underwater entrances, but the living area is located in the top of the lodge, above the water line. These lodges are often built away from the shore, forming an “island” that can only be entered from underwater (sounds like the Bat-cave, doesn’t it?). These living spaces are insulated, ventilated, and have floors that are covered with wood shavings to provide a “bed” for the beavers. The unique home of the beaver protects them from land animals and gives them a “safe space” in which to live. 

The beaver’s presence in nature makes a tremendous impact on other wildlife, providing a suitable habitat for dozens of other species. 

THE DIET OF THE BEAVER

Although their teeth are orange in color, beavers do not live on a diet of Cheetos, nacho cheese, and orange soda. Beavers are herbivores, which means that their diet consists of a variety of plants. Beavers eat leaves, the inner bark of trees, roots, vines, twigs, shrubs, plants, grasses, and some aquatic plants. Beavers store up food for the winter, sometimes keeping it on the floor of a muddy pond so that the water can keep their food “refrigerated” and preserve its nutritional value. 

THE DAILY LIFE OF THE BEAVER

Beavers are nocturnal, which means that they do most of their work at night; but they are also sometimes active during the day, foraging, building, and maintaining their habitat. Although they don’t hibernate, they are less active during the winter, spending most of their time in their lodges. Since the light levels in their lodges remain low throughout the 24-hour day, their “days” often vary in length and their regular day cycle can change. 

Beavers are social animals that form strong family bonds and live together during the winter. A mated pair of beavers can live together for many years, sometimes for life. They share food and lodging, and rarely have problems with aggression among their family units. Their young offspring are called “kits,” and they usually produce one-to-eight each year, depending on the amount of food that is available and the age of the female beaver. A newborn beaver can swim within 30 minutes of being born! The kits are nursed until they are 10-12 weeks old, and will normally stay with the adults until they are one-to-three years old, when they leave home to find a mate of their own. A beaver colony usually consists of the adults, the kits of that year, and the kits of the previous year.  

Beavers can live up to 12 years in the wild and have very few enemies in the animal kingdom. They communicate using scent marking, vocalizations (whines, grunts, and growls), slapping their tails on the surface of the water, and physical posture. 

Beavers are truly incredible creatures and are perfectly designed to do everything that they need to be able to do in nature. Was this an accident? Was this some kind of evolution that took place over multiplied millions of years? No. Beavers were designed by an all-knowing, all-powerful God during the Creation week (Genesis 1), and they continue to declare His power and glory (Romans 1:20)!

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