The world of fauna holds a myriad of mysteries under the wing. Humans have hardly researched a few percentages with the world being blessed by millions of animal species, and many need to be found out. But, even coming to the ones who are well known, they also keep posing interesting facts to awe the audience.
One of such animals in the world of fauna is the beaver. Considered one of the largest rodents living in the world, it leads a semi-aquatic life and can attribute the same towards its body structure, with thick fur, webbed feet, and flattened tail. The upcoming content discusses in detail the interesting facts surrounding the creature.
The general facts
The following are some of the general facts that often come in handy when you search about the beavers:
- They have sizes within 23 to 39 inches and can weigh 75 kg. With such a body structure, they are equipped with larger teeth, closable nostrils, and transparent ear membranes to lead a comfortable life within the waters.
- Both of the sexes secrete a chemical called castor in their tails to mark the water’s territory and segregate the same basis population distribution.
- A group of beavers together form a lodge, and they prefer staying within the freshwater sources. These lodges are built above the water level and can be found majorly in Europe’s regions like Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, France, and Central Russia (poor effects of hunting).
- They are nocturnal animals and spend a lot of their time eating and building up the habitats’ nests. Their construction skill is so top-notched that they can easily dig canals within the water bodies to feed them with regular supply.
- During winter, the beaver’s mate and the kids leave the lodges by the age of two years to build a fresh one of their own. By the age of three, they get matured enough to continue the mating process.
The special facts
When it comes to the special facts, the beavers also do not lie behind in amazing you. The following are some of the key facts related to them:
- The beavers are the only mammals who can digest cellulose freely. Unlike others, their body is suitable for eating different types of land and aquatic plants, which attributes to their adjustability to different natures.
- The beavers’ older fossils attribute their height to be at least 8 feet during the ice age. However, with the changing environmental conditions, they started shrinking to the current size and living the lives with the same.
- The castor sacs secreted by the beavers is a certified FDA flavoring agent and is used primarily in the preparation of the ice-creams. That brown slime smells like vanilla and gives the perfect flavors to the food wherever the same is added.
- As mentioned earlier, the beavers are top-class creators, and their lodges can prove this out. Their lodges can go as deep as 850 m below the water and stays strong irrespective of the changing water conditions.
- Unlike other mammals, beavers have shown family bonding behavior, i.e., they tend to stick to their partners and thus stay within the same lodge for longer durations.
- The beavers‘ teeth are designed to be of orange color due to the genetics and their basic nature of eating the raw tree bark. With such properties, they can easily eat the strong trees, and the iron content in the tooth enamel ensures that the sharpness does not wear off even after repeated cycles of usage.
- The tail of the beaver acts as a multi-purpose tool based on the location of stay. It acts as a counter-balancing thing to aid them in holding up heavy supplies via the teeth on land. In the water, the same aids in swimming through the water.
- They can stay underwater for 15 minutes and use the defense mechanism against the poachers trying to hunt them down for miscellaneous purposes.
These facts are not limited to the ones mentioned above. You can also refer to poplar firewood report to learn more of such interesting facts about them.
