2. Their lips are behind their teeth so they can gnaw underwater.
3. They grow to be as much as 60 lbs. and 4 feet long.
4. They live for about 19 years and mate for life.
5. They kick their young out of the lodge at two years old. If the young won't leave, they kill them. Nice. When the young leave, they always travel downstream to build their lodge and dam. If they travel upstream, they risk running into their ancestors who will also kill them. Nice again.
6. An adult beaver can carry as much as 200 lbs. They are known to work in teams for heavier tasks. (Maybe there should be a World's Strongest Beaver Competition, it should air on Animal Planet.)
7. They build dams to make one side of the water deeper so when the freeze comes there is still enough water beneath the ice for them to swim comfortably and hide from predators. We wouldn't want the little bastards to be uncomfortable.
8. They can gnaw an 8" diameter tree in 20 minutes; an 18" diameter tree in less than an hour.
9. They prefer willow, ash, cottonwood, alder, aspen, birch, and poplar trees. Fussy fucks.
10. Their lodges are made up of sticks and mud and grasses, often referred to as a mud igloo. They build a "shelf" up high in the lodge to sleep and stay dry from rising flood waters.
I know all this and more but still can't get rid of them. This weekend we will meet with the neighbors for a beaver pow wow. We may have to break down and hire a trapper.
This is the latest casualty and the first one that is officially on our property.
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