BEAVER RESTORATION IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST - Lesson Plan
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a social, mostly nocturnal mammal well adapted to survive in – and create – wetlands. Balanced with a broad, flat tail and powered by webbed hind feet, adult beavers can swim underwater for as long 15 minutes, staying warm with dense, dark brown fur coats that are waterproofed with secretions from special oil glands. Beavers are perhaps best known for their ever-growing, sharp incisors’ capacity to fell entire trees. Though nourished by the thin cambium layer of living cells beneath the trees bark, beavers use most of the branches and stems (along with mud and many other materials) to construct lodges for dwelling and dams for expanding aquatic habitat
