Beavers

What do beavers eat?What are beavers predators?

Where do beavers live?Cool facts about beavers.

What do beavers eat?Beavers eat tree bark and the soft tissue, called cambium that lies beneath the bark. Trees they seem especially fond of are willows, maples, poplars, beeches, birches, alders , and aspens. They also eat water vegetation, as well as water lilies and various berries.

What are beavers predators?

Because beavers spend most of their lives either in the water or in a lodge protected by water, they have very few natural predators.

Of the successful predators that they do have, however, wolves and humans are the major two. Other predators include bears, lynxes, wolverines, red foxes, and dogs. In North America coyotes and possibly river otters also prey on beavers. There is question of whether river otters eat found carcasses of beavers or if they actually hunt and kill them; regardless, the beaver is rarely found to be part of river otters' diet.

Like most other mammals the young of beavers are more likely to fall victim to predators than adults.

What are beavers predators? Beavers rely on their heightened sense of hearing to detect and evade predators. Sun

and Mueller-Schwarze recorded that tail slapping was the most frequently observed alarm call in their 2003 publication. Tail slapping is simply when a beaver slaps its tail on the surface of the water, making a noise that can be heard by humans 100 meters away. Other beavers recognize tail slapping as an alarm call and respond by diving into the water. Beavers tail slap at the approach of humans, at the presence of unfamiliar noises, and at the presence of unfamiliar odors. Some times a beaver will slap the water with its tail in response to another beaver's slap before diving. Beavers will be more likely to respond to tail slaps produced by older beavers than younger ones. The tail slap of a younger beaver sounds different because of their smaller tails. This lack of response is most likely because younger beavers are still learning when to tail slap and when to not. There are probably more tail slaps produced by young beavers that are not in response to a predator or threat, so others do not take their slaps as seriously.

Where do beavers live? They were once widespread in N and central Eurasia except E Siberia, and in North

America from the arctic tree line to the S United States. Because of their great importance in maintaining the natural environment, they have been reintroduced in many areas of North America and Russia and are now increasing in numbers. Beavers are responsible for creating many of the woodland ponds that support lush vegetation and eventually become meadows.

Cool facts about Beavers. Beavers are very industrious creatures. In fact they are often referred to as

nature's architects. Read on to learn some interesting facts about beavers.

Beavers grow three to four feet long and weigh between forty and sixty pounds.

Beavers have five toes on their webbed feet.

A beaver's front teeth never stop growing.

The beaver's large front teeth enable them to cut and chew. Gnawing wood helps to wear them down.

Beavers can swim at an average of five miles per hour.

The beaver is a strong and intelligent animal. They can influence the environment similar to humankind.

Cool facts about Beavers. A beaver can stay underwater for approximately fifteen minutes before coming up for

air.

Beavers eat bark, roots, leaves and twigs.

The nose and ears of a beaver have valves that close when they go underwater.

The broad tail of a beaver functions as a rudder.

The lifespan of a beaver is approximately sixteen years.

Beavers have an average of two to four offspring per litter.

A beaver's offspring are called kits.

Cool facts about Beavers.Beavers have thick heavy fur protected by long hairs called guard hairs to keep them

warm in icy water.

Beavers are very clean animals and will not go to the bathroom in their living area.

Beavers are very vocal with their children. They even discipline their offspring.

By building dams beavers can influence and even change vegetation and animal life.

A beaver's teeth have a hard orange coating that helps to keep them from breaking.

Bears, wolves, coyotes, bobcats and other animals prey on beavers. Although these predators are very dangerous, human hunting and destruction of habitat are often the biggest threat to beavers.

Cool facts about Beavers.A beaver's fur is naturally oily and waterproof.

Beavers are one of America's largest rodents.

Beavers are nocturnal animals.

Bees

What do bees eat?What are bees predators?

Where do bees live?Cool facts about bees.

What do bees eat?Bees eat honey. That must be a hard diet to keep up.

What are bees predators?

Wasps.

Where do bees live?In hives in trees, buildings, and where other bees will think is safe to their queens.

Mostly bee hives.

Cool facts about Bees.Bees belong to the third largest insect order which also includes wasps and ants.There are three types of bees in the hive – Queen, Worker and Drone.Workers live about 45 days in the summer, drones are driven out of the hive in the fall. Queens can live for up to 5 years.The queen may lay 1,500 or more eggs each day during her lifetime.This daily egg production may equal her own weight. She is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees.Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour.Honey bees' wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.Honeybees are the only insect that produce food used by humans.Honeybees usually travel approximately 3 miles from their hive. They can travel up to 6 miles searching for food.

Honey bees produce beeswax from eight paired glands on the underside of their abdomen.

Cool facts about Bees.Honey bees must consume about 8 pounds of honey to biochemically produce each pound of beeswax.Honeybees are the only bees that die after they sting.Honeybees are responsible for pollinating approximately 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the U.S.Honeybees have five eyes, 3 small ones on top of the head and two big ones in front. They also have hair on their eyes.

Honeybees can see two things we cannot. One is in the ultraviolet and another is plane polarized light.If a bee entered a movie theater, they would not see a continuous motion movie, but rather each individual frame.Bees communicate with each other by dancing and by using pheromones (scents).Bees brains are the size of a sesame seed, about 20,000 times less massive than the human brain.

Cool facts about Bees.Bees can recognize individual human facesBees can count to four.