For centuries, beavers have been seen as little more than a nuisance to farmers and ranchers, with their dams causing flooding and unwanted changes to local vegetation. It was just over 75 years ago that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game parachuted beavers (yes, you read that right 🪂) into what is now the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness because they were inconveniencing the residents of McCall.
But in recent years, wildlife experts have been raising awareness about the critical role beavers actually play in the local ecosystem. Just two states away, the Pitkin County Healthy Rivers program kicked off new research earlier this summer on Colorado beaver populations to restore the animals to areas where they’ve been eradicated in that state. County officials have also launched this public awareness campaign to teach landowners how to coexist with the critters peacefully.
Why Beavers Matter
Here are just some of the ecological benefits that beavers and their dams have on their surrounding habitats:
- Their dams recharge groundwater.
- They help maintain a healthy stream flow.
- They build up watershed biodiversity.
- They reduce wildfire risk.
Beavers in the Wild
- Beavers typically prefer slow-moving streams, ponds, and marshes surrounded by willows, aspens, cottonwoods, and alders for food and building materials.
- In the wild, beavers typically live 10 to 12 years and grow to weigh anywhere from 35 to 65 pounds.
- Beavers are herbivores, eating bark, leaves, and aquatic vegetation.
Beaver Fun Facts
- Beavers’ teeth are as strong as metal and never stop growing (they can grow up to 6 feet over a beaver’s lifespan!) but stay trimmed down as they constantly gnaw on wood. A thick coating of iron-fortified enamel makes their teeth appear orange.
- Contrary to popular belief, beavers don’t use their tails to pat down mud. Rather, beavers use their long, flat tails as rudders while swimming in the water, as a balancing prop when carrying large loads of sticks, and to slap the water in communication with other beavers.
- Beavers are monogamous. They live and work in family colonies of two to 12 members.
