North American Beaver (Castor canadensis)
Kuhl, 1820 |
Structures and Signs
|
|
|
|
Beavers play an important role in shaping North American landscapes by converting wooded riparian and lacustrine habitats to open water and wetlands. They change vegetation by gnawing and felling trees, thus opening the canopy, and affecting hydrology by creating beaver dams (massive log, branch, and mud structures) which block streams and flood forests and fields, transforming them into the beaver ponds. In many areas beavers build domelike shelters, called lodges, also constructed of branches and mud, while elsewhere they live in burrows dug into river banks. Although the animals themselves may be difficult to observe, the signs of beaver activity, such as dams, lodges, beaver ponds, trees with gnawed marks, felled trees and submerged food caches, are a common sight in many areas of Canada and the United States. Beaver dams may last for decades, and older dams sometimes have trees growing on them as illustrated in the photo D41038. Signs of beaver presence could be seen in very unlikely places, for example alongside rivers flowing through nearly treeless arid plains, such as the Canadian River in Texas Panhandle (23549 and 23550).
|
|
D33545
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis), beaver lodge
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D33544
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
freshly renovated
beaver lodge
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D33546
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
beaver lodge
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D33547
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
beaver lodges
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D33609
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
small beaver lodge
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D33587
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
beaver lodges and food caches
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D70228
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
Tree felled by beaver
Marlborough Forest, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
23549
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
Tree felled by beaver
Canadian River
Texas, USA
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D38013
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
beaver dam
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved
|
|
|
|
|
|
D41038
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
trees growing on old beaver dam
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
D33607
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
beaver gnaw marks
Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
D70225
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
Tree felled by beaver
Marlborough Forest, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
23550
North American Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
Tree felled by beaver
Canadian River
Texas, USA
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev
All Rights Reserved |
Unauthorized use of our images is NOT permitted. |
Hotlinking or "pinning" of our images to websites is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. |
|
|
Copyright © Michael Patrikeev - All Rights Reserved |
|
|