Beaver
These large, aquatic rodents build telltale lodges and dams and are critical to fishery health as well as drought and flood management.
About This Species
Beavers, the largest rodents native to North America, have a familiar calling card: dams, lodges, bank dens, canals, slides and of course gnawed stumps of aspen, alder, willow or cottonwood. It takes a beaver approximately 30 minutes to fell a 5-inch diameter tree. Beavers feed on the upper, tender branches, leaves and bark of trees. Many mountain ponds, willow thickets and meadows also are the works of beavers over time. Beavers are active year-round. Their ponds provide navigable water beneath the ice. No mammal other than humans has a great an influence on its surroundings.
This is a "keystone species" in riparian communities; without them the ecosystem would change dramatically. As abundant as beavers are today, it is difficult to believe that once they were on the verge of extinction, trapped for their under fur, which was used to make felt for beaver hats. In the mid-19th century, silk hats replaced beaver felt as a fashion, and that probably saved the beaver from extinction. But, before it ended, the beaver trade opened the mountains of Colorado to European exploration. Beavers in Colorado are managed as furbearers.
Beavers are fairly well protected from predators by their large size and aquatic habits, however, mink eat some kits, and coyotes can capture a beaver waddling on dry land. Aside from that, floods may be the largest cause of death.
Beavers and Tree Damage
How to Prevent Beaver Damage
How can I prevent beavers from chopping down ornamental trees and avoid any flooding damage caused by their dams?
In most cases you can wrap individual trees with fencing, use electric fencing around culverts, and lessen the problems caused by their dams by using special pipes and grates. Another option is to mix a concoction of 5 ounces of mason sand with 1 quart of exterior latex paint and apply it to the first 3 feet of the trees. The only lethal option is to live trap them and then shoot them. Licensed trappers (contact your local CPW office for a list) will live trap beavers for a fee. They often have made previous arrangements with private landowners or public land agencies to release live-trapped beavers. It is illegal for private individuals to release live-caught beavers on public land.
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Beavers measure more than three feet in length, and weigh up to 55 pounds, with a broad, nearly naked, flat tail and webbed feet.
Range
The beaver lives throughout Colorado in suitable habitat, although it is most abundant in the subalpine zone.
Habitat
Beavers live around ponds and streams that are surrounded by trees.
Diet
Beavers feed on grasses and forbs in the summer, and bark in the winter. Beavers eat the upper, tender branches, leaves and bark of trees. They do not eat the inner wood.
Reproduction
The den houses a nuclear family: parents, yearlings, and four or five kits. A single litter of young is produced each year, born in the spring after about a four month gestation period.