Coal Creek Wildlife-Beaver

The Beaver by Jenna N., age 9

After a hard day of work, a father beaver comes home from work. The mother beaver will nibble the father's neck to welcome him. When a beaver starts a family it will mate for life. Babies are called rites. Mothers have 2 or 4 rites at a time.

Beavers make their dams out of, mud, sticks, stones, and debris. A beaver can swim a quarter of a mile without air. Beavers make funny noises like a bark. They grow up to 3 to 5 feet! Their average weight is 35 to 40 pounds. Beavers have fur that is rich chocolate brown with light gray and their teeth are orange and yellow. A beaver eats aspen, pine, fir, beech, cottonwood and maple trees.

A beaver's enemies are mostly people. Trappers still catch about 200,000 beaver a year. Their pelts are worth $30.00 to $70.00 each.

I got my information from THINK OF A BEAVER by Karen Wallace.

The Beaver by Casey M., age 9

If you hear a loud slap on the river it might be a beaver. If you see a downed tree by a river there's probably a beaver nearby. The beavers teeth are his tools, he uses them to cut through trees or any sort of wood for building a dam. A beaver can cut down more than 200 trees in a year. He's a first class builder and engineer. He uses wood, twigs and straw to build his dam.

The beaver's nostrils and ears close up when he's swimming so he can remain under water for 15 minutes. He lives all over Colorado. He eats bark, leaves, stems and the sap of trees. The beaver is a plant eater so he doesn't eat any sort of meat. The beaver's tail is flat, wide and covered with tiny scales. In the water it acts like a rudder steering his body. When he slaps his tail on the water it's a warning that danger is near.

I got my information from MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE, WILDLIFE OF THE WORLD, and BUSY BEAVERS.

The muskrat is a close relative of the beaver and it also lives in marshes, ponds and slow-moving rivers on the eastern plains of Colorado. It is much smaller, weighing about 2 to 4 pounds. It has a large flat tail that it uses when swimming.

Illustration by Ashley

Beaver by Jonathan R., age 9

A loud slap fills the forest. There's gnawing sounds, then trees fall down. The sounds you are hearing could be the sounds of a beaver. Does it have a 12 inch long tail? Is it brown and furry? If so, it is a beaver. Did you know that beavers make their own pond and home? They start out by making a dam made of sticks glued together by a cement-like stuff made of mud and stones and there you have it, a beaver pond! Next they make the their home, called a lodge. The lodge is made the same way as the dam, but its shaped like a igloo and has 1-2 entrances. The female beaver has 2-8 babies called kits and lives in groups of 2-8. Oh, I forgot to tell you that the beaver uses it's tail to slap the material together that was used for the dam and lodge. I'll tell you about the tail right now. The tail is covered with scales that help the beaver steer. If the beaver slaps its tail against the water that means DANGER!!!

Now I think I should tell you were they live. They live in woodlands near rivers and streams. Here's an amazing fact: the beaver is the second largest rodent in the world! It is 3 1/2 feet long and that's big for a rodent. The beaver has some special features that it uses to help it live in its habitat, like being able to stay under water for 15 minutes. It also has 2 layers of water proof fur. Did you know that it has a special gland that releases a body oil that keeps it warm? It closes its ears and nostrils while swimming. In the winter when the water freezes the beaver stores food in the water and lodge to eat during the winter. The beaver eats bark, leaves, stems, and sap from the trees. If the beaver is killed off by one of these enemies: bears, wolves, people, ferrets and mountain lions, it will be gone, never to be seen again.

I got my information from WILDLIFE OF THE WORLD, VOL. 1, published by Marshall Cavendish

Beaver by Kyle E., age 9

Down in the depths of a pond, a beaver may be lurking, searching for food. It's snake skin-like tail propels it silently through the water. Chattering, greeting, caring for its young, it lives in a river or a stream somewhere in a woodland. A beaver has really sharp teeth which it uses to cut branches. They eat bark, leaves, stems and sap. If it doesn't chew wood, its teeth will grow into its head! Beavers have two eyelids, one for sleeping and one for swimming. The beaver is the largest rodent in North America. They can grow to be 3 1/2 feet long, counting a 1 foot long tail. Beavers weigh 46-63 pounds. They can swim 1 mile before coming up for air and also have webbed feet. They greet each other by chattering and by nibbling each other's cheeks. Beavers build lodges in the middle of ponds, usually with 2 tunnels. They live in families and couples mate for life. Females give birth to 2 to 8 kits. Trappers trapped beavers for their fur in the early 1800's. A fur used to cost $5.00.

I got my information from THINK OF A BEAVER.

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