Beaver (Castor fiber) The beaver is the biggest rodent in Europe. It was extinct in Sweden at the end of the 1800s. Today’s beavers are results of putting out Norwegian beavers in the 1920s and -30s. The beavers are unique animals. They can change their environment to suit their way of life. By building a dam wall they will flood large areas, which makes it easier for them to float branches. Deciduous trees benefit from the flooding. In the summer the beaver eats many kinds of herbs, grass and flowers. In the winter, when the beavers live in their lodges and under the ice, they exclusively live on bark and twigs from their winter supplies.
|
|
Order: Rodents (Rodentia)
Family: Beavers (Castoridae)
Weight: Up to 35 kilograms
Life span: About 15 – 20 years
Mating period: February
Kits: Gives birth 1 – 4 kits in June in a special breeding chamber in the lodge.
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
