A swimming beaver is like an iceberg most of its mass is hidden underwater GARYSFRP GETTY IMAGES 2 The beaver was also observing me and maybe it was talking to me Several times it emitted a low rumbling sound like a cross between a growl and a purr It was too bad I didn’t speak its language My new acquaintance then swam over to the dam and clambered onto it It waddled along the top of the dam seemingly unconcerned by the trickling water After pausing for a moment to munch on a bush it belly flopped back into the lake and paddled away small black eyes And finally the flaring nostrils When the beaver had paddled almost to the shore it started cruising back and forth in front of me Peering down into the water I saw how it steered with its tail and propelled itself with slow kicks of its big webbed hind feet first one foot and then the other When the beaver reached the shore opposite me it emerged again It sat upright on the bank with its tail folded underneath its rotund body and began to groom itself I watched through my binoculars as the beaver ran its front paws down its chest belly and sides pressing water out of its thick coat Once it had dried off it spent several minutes rubbing waterproofing oil from its oil glands into its coat Now and then it paused for some vigorous scratching
This was the first time I had ever watched a beaver groom itself so I was excited It felt like sneaking into my favorite singer’s dressing room and watching her do her hair and makeup before a big show Eventually the beaver slipped back into the pond and glided away By then it was almost dark I put on my headlamp and made my way back along the forested path to the parking lot Over the years I’ve heard a lot of beaver stories Stories about encounters with beavers Stories Indigenous Peoples have handed down from generation to generation Stories told by scientists who study these animals Stories about how the fur trade almost drove beavers to extinction and how they were saved And stories from people who are working to figure out how we humans can get along better with beavers in the modern world Maybe you have a beaver story too Or maybe yours is still out there waiting for you to find it Beavers often dive immediately after slapping their tails Water fountains up as the beaver kicks its hind feet in the air and plunges below the surface CHUCK GARRETT
SEBASTIEN LEMYRE GETTY IMAGES
1 THE MIGHTY BEAVER Meet the Mighty Beaver Beavers are amazing They can build structures that are visible from outer space They can turn streams into lakes and change the shape of valleys They can gnaw right through the trunks of trees that are as tall as flag poles And they do all of this with nothing more than their sharp front teeth nimble paws and powerful muscles There are only two kinds of beavers in the world today the North American and the Eurasian Scientists also have fancier names for them They call the North American beaver Castor canadensis and the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber You probably noticed that both names start with the word Castor That tells us that these two species are closely related kind of like cousins Unlike most human cousins Castor canadensis and Castor fiber look nearly identical The only sure way to tell them apart is to examine their DNA the coding instructions for life that every animal and plant carries in its cells DNA analysis shows that the two species of beaver have slightly 55
