Beavers are social animals; they live in colonies and work together.

The life span of the animal

may be as long as 19 years. A beaver begins its life in a litter of from two to eight young, or
kits. Four is the usual number. They are born in the spring, about four months after
conception. A mother will sometimes raise not only her own offspring, but also the young of
another female that has died.

Newborn kits weigh from 8 to 24 ounces (225 to 680 grams) and are about 15 inches (38
centimeters) long, with tails that measure 3 1/2 inches (9 centimeters). Their eyes are open at
birth. They are out learning to swim when they are only a month old, and they are weaned by
six months.

A family usually consists of a mature pair of beavers and two sets of offspring. A female first
breeds when it is about 2 1/2years old. The young stay with their mother into their second
year, when they leave or are driven out before the mother gives birth to a new litter.

By their third summer the young beavers are mature and ready to mate. They usually mate for
life. A mated pair locates a fairly deep, slow-moving stream. They dig a burrow into the bank,
starting below the surface of the water and slanting upward to a small room above the high-
water mark. This is only a temporary residence in which the first litter will be born in the
spring. Not until the following autumn does the couple set about building their permanent
homethe lodge.

Beavers live most of their lives in or near water. They settle along banks of streams, rivers,
and lakes bordered by timberland.

Large beaver populations have been credited with reducing flooding because of the dams they
build across streams. On the other hand, they may also cause the flooding of roads and
woodlands because of the reservoirs of water that build up behind the dams. Constant flooding
can also damage valuable timber and block routes of migrating salmon.

the reservoirs created by the dams are places where the beavers feel secure. It is in these
artificially created ponds that beavers build their lodges and storehouses.

The adult beavers select a narrow, shallow site in the water as a place to build a dam. They
gnaw down a number of aspen, birch, or willow saplings. These they drag to the site and bury
in mud with the butt ends pointing upstream. Into this foundation the beavers fit and pile
more saplings, adding mud and stones until a strong barrier is completed. This structure allows
enough seepage or overflow to keep the water in the reservoir fresh.

Beaver dams come in all shapes and sizes. Normally a family of beavers can build a dam 35
feet (10 meters) long in about a week. Some dams more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) long
have been found, but these are the work of generations of beavers.