Beavers, the national animal of Canada are large, semi-aquatic rodents of the Castor genus. They are native to the Northern Hemisphere.The two species of this beaver are the Eurasian beaver (C. fiber) and North American beaver (Castor canadensis). Beavers have large heads and stout bodies, brown or gray fur, webbed-like back feet and hand-like front feet, long chisel-like incisors, and scaly tails.Beavers can attain a maximum length of 3-4 ft (91.4-122 cm) and sometimes a 1.5 ft (45.72 cm). A beaver weighs around 35-55 lb (15.8-25 kg). Beavers can run on land, but they can swim faster at 6 mph (9.65 kph) as they need to, they can stay underwater for as many as 15 minutes. Beavers’ habitat is freshwater like ponds, rivers, lakes, and streams. Beavers are herbivores and eat aquatic plants, tree bark, sedges, and grasses. Beaver’s also eat beech, maple, black cherry, birch, alder, and birch trees also. Beaver’s eat ‘cambium’ of the trees which is a very soft and smooth layer just below the bark. Beavers mainly eat leaves, bark, herbaceous plants, and aquatic plants. Beavers do not hibernate, but during winter when their food sources are low, they sleep and rest most of the time.Beavers like to build lodges and dams using branches of the tree with rocks and mud so that dams can stop water for beavers. Beavers are a kind of family species that create their infrastructure in wetlands which is home to many other species. Beavers make their families and can be said that they are family species. They have short tail and high foods requirement. A single beaver can make a medium-sized tree fall in a single night! Beavers with their front teeth, which are very sharp can chop down trees for building lodges and dams. Protecting trees from beavers is a very common concern for homeownersBeavers have in the past, were hunted down for their meat, castoreum, and fur. Castoreum is used to make medicine, food flavoring, perfume making, and beaver pelts are used in the trading of fur for centuries. Most people think that beavers eat fish.Beavers do not eat wood, they eat the bark and the inner bark of a tree. Beavers, in fact, cut trees only to use them to built lodges and dams. Beavers eat bark and inner bark or cambium, which is the softer growing tissue under the bark of trees. Beavers have built-in microorganisms in their guts, which helps them to digest as much as 30% of the cellulose they consume from plants. A beaver cuts down a tree it wants to and eats the inner growing layer of the tree bark called cambium. Beavers also eat fine twigs and leaves and beavers like to eat the twigs and bark of aspen trees, willow, poplar, maple trees, birch, and cottonwood. They like to eat water plants like water lily and cattail.You can also read what do carp eat and what do chipmunks eat for more great content.Do beavers eat meat?No, Beavers don’t eat meat. Beavers are herbivores and eat only vegetarian food like fine twigs and leaves, bark and twigs aspen trees, willow, poplar, maple trees, birch, and cottonwood.Beavers also eat water plants such as water lily and cattail. Beavers consume their stashed food in harsh winters as this herbivore lives in the northern hemisphere in North America. In the summer months, beavers eat anything between 3.3-4.4 lb (1.5 - 2.0 kg) of food, and during winter months the food consumption is reduced to about 2 lb (0.9 kg) a day and in harsh winters they do not go outside for food but only feed on stashed food which we can call as reserve food. These teeth are continuously sharpened as the beaver gnaws and chews while feeding, grinding, and cutting trees. Beavers also do not consume fish as beavers are pure herbivores. They can roam in the water freely because of their heavy fur but they only eat aquatic plants, water lilies, inner bark of a tree and don’t interfere with other animals’ life.What do beavers like to eat?Beavers are herbivores, existing entirely on aquatic and woody vegetation. They will eat fresh leaves, stems, twigs and the inner bark of a tree.Beavers will munch on any tree species, but strongly prefer species of tree which include alder, willow, cottonwood, birch, poplar, maple, and aspen trees. Beavers also consume the apple, grass, water lilies, clover, giant ragweed, cattails, and watercress. There is an illusion that beavers eat fish beavers, after all, beavers spend a lot of time underwater in rivers but it will remain an illusion because beavers are herbivores. Beaver feeds off woody plants like poplar, aspen trees, willow, birch, water lilies, inner bark of a tree that is woody.Beaver also likes to eat roots, shrubs, beans, and with their sharp teeth in wildlife, they prefer the inner bark of a tree and roots depending upon the season. The beaver’s diet depends on the season. In the autumn and spring months, they eat both woody and soft flora. In the summer months, most of the vegetation they eat is soft. In winter months, when plants’ growth is low, beavers eat woody fare. Beavers have unique microorganisms in their guts which help them digest much of the food beavers dine on a healthy mix of both. Beavers are a prime example to those who eat vegetation only and are herbivores. Beavers, which are large rodents definitely enjoy vegetation including twigs, foliage, bark, and aquatic plants and it changes as the season changes. Woody plants, typically the inner bark of trees, are a beaver’s favorite, called cambium.Why do beavers eat wood?Beavers do not eat the wood they eat the inner bark or bark of trees. The frontal teeth of a Beaver are very strong and sharp which are paired with its inner teeth with powerful jaw muscles.A single beaver can make a medium-sized tree fall in a single night! As beaver’s teeth never stop growing it is believed that beavers need to constantly chew wood to prevent their teeth from growing and this is the reason beavers constantly eat the inner bark of a tree. Beavers, in fact, cut trees to make lodges and dams but eats the tree’s inner bark or the soft layer of wood. Beavers have some microorganisms in their stomachs to help them digest at least 30 % of the cellulose they eat from plants.These herbivores also eat woody stems, leaves, and aquatic plants. Beaver likes to eat the bark of aspen trees, willow, poplar, maple trees, birch, and cottonwood. They like to eat water plants like water lily and cattail. Beavers also eat foliage and twigs so that the daily energy needs are fulfilled. During the summer months, a beaver can consume 3.3-4.4 lb (1.5 - 2.0 kg) of food and during winter months the consumption of food drops down to just 0.9 kg per day. In harsh winter months, beavers consume their stored food which they make sure to store in their houses. There are some animals that benefit from beavers; they are salamanders, grogs, fish, otters, fish, owls, insects, and some more species. The used trees of beavers can also provide a good habitat for herons.What do beavers eat in the wild?Beavers eat bark and inner bark or cambium that is a soft tissue that grows in the trees, mainly in the bark. The many favorites include maple, willow, beech, poplar, alder, birch, and aspen trees, roots, black cherry, shrubs, beans.They also prefer to eat some water vegetation as well as roots and buds, and aquatic plants. Beavers come under the herbivores’ animals who eat the leaves like maple, poplar, beech, birch, alder, and aspen trees. They don’t eat or consume animals in their diet. Beavers most of the time eat the bark of trees in their diet apart from eating aquatic plants. They also like to consume cellulose in their diet. Beaver stores fat in winter months as in harsh winters beaver don’t even go out to feed itself and this storage is used by beavers to fulfill their dietary supplements. In harsh winter months, beaver eats only aquatic plants, roots, buds, and vegetation.How can beavers eat aquatic plants?Eurasian beaver spends quite a lot of time in rivers, canals like freshwater lakes for foods that grow underneath the surface of the water such as aquatic plants like water lily and cattail.Beavers can consume several aquatic plant varieties like cattails and lilies, and beavers enjoy eating the roots and stems of these plants of water. Beavers have unique microorganisms in their guts that help them digest at least 30% of the cellulose that they eat from plants. These herbivores also eat leaves, woody plants, and aquatic plants in ponds. Beavers take sticks, ferns, reeds, saplings, and branches, and they use mud as a caulking material to build their lodges and dams. Beavers are well-known for their lodge and dam-building skills, when the beaver is in areas that are not very cold, or where the water level is low like on a lake, they may not make either of these.Do beavers really eat trees?This North American beaver and even Eurasian beaver do not eat trees! In fact, they cut down soft trees mostly to form lodges and dams. Beavers eat bark and inner bark or cambium, which is the softer growing tissue under the bark of trees. They consume woody plants in the wild with the help of their incisors.Beavers have unique microorganisms in their guts that help them digest at least 30% of the cellulose that they eat from plants. Beavers with their front teeth, which are very sharp can chop down trees for building lodges and dams. Protecting trees from beavers is a very common concern for homeowners. They can even cut down 200 trees every year, and that contains mostly the softwood trees such as willow, cottonwood, maple, beech, poplar, birch, aspen, alder. Beavers do not eat fish from the pond but can eat the wild grasses and ferns.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for what do beavers eat, then why not take a look at what do skunks eat or Beaver Facts?
Beavers, the national animal of Canada are large, semi-aquatic rodents of the Castor genus. They are native to the Northern Hemisphere.
