Beavers
spend a large portion of their time in the lodge, so this post will be focused
on topics such as the floor plan of their home, family interactions, and all
things kits! If you’ve ever seen a beaver lodge, you know that they are very
large, mounded structures made entirely of branches, sticks, and mud. The
largest ones are approximately forty feet wide and nine feet high. That’s about
the width of a double garage! The lodges are freestanding, which is even more
impressive when you think about the work it must take to build one from the
ground up. The functions of a lodge are what you might expect: it’s a place to
rest, stay warm, give birth to kits, and raise the young into adulthood.
Typically a
finished lodge, which can consist of up to three tons of raw materials, is
built in twenty days. The beavers drag sticks and large braches through the
water and then carry them to their proper place using both hands. Essentially
this means that beavers are capable of walking on two feet and there is plenty
of “critter cam” evidence out there to confirm this. Thus, a beaver is one of
the very few mammals that exhibits bipedal movement. Using their hands and
teeth, beavers can carry their body weight in timber. As a final touch, they use
mud to “glue” all the wood together for insulation. Interestingly, in late
autumn, beavers cover their lodges with an entirely new, fresh layer of mud, which
freezes during the winter and renders the lodge virtually impenetrable to
predators.
Inside the
lodge you’ll find an impressive floor plan. Chambers are carved out to form
three rooms: a nursery, a bedroom for sleeping, and a feeding area. The extra
square footage is certainly needed during the breeding season, at which time a
mated pair produces anywhere from one to eight kits, or baby beavers. The male
and female parents are monogamous, which means that they mate for life and give
birth to an average of three or four kits in the spring, each one the size of a
guinea pig. The female nurses the young for the first two months while the male
defends the territory and maintains the dam. Once the kits reach a reasonable
age, they spend most of their time playing and learning from their parents. Sometimes
the young will help maintain the dam by imitating their parents, but since they
haven’t yet refined their skills, the work they do is not nearly as effective. Mostly
the kits play amongst themselves, eat, and sleep. However, as they grow older,
they learn how to one day manage their own property. The offspring live with
the family for up to two years, and during that time they learn survival skills
and help take care of the new kits born the next spring by feeding, grooming,
and protecting them. This behavior is highly advantageous to the beaver family,
as the two-year olds drastically increase the younger kits’ chances of
survival. Eventually the older offspring will leave the lodge and forge their
own future somewhere nearby. This could be the reason we see two lodges at
Lyman Woods. As the saying goes, we’re as “busy as a beaver” trying to keep up
with these beavers!
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