Why Beavers are the Best

As surprising as it seems, these stubby, buck-toothed swimmers contribute greatness where they reside! In fact, one beaver family can create entire ecosystems! Here’s how they allow salamanders to lay eggs, painted turtles to bask in the sun, and orange jewelweed to bloom; one stick at a time…

What Do Beavers Do?

It all starts with a river. A nice drinking spot to visit, but not a very relaxing place for plants and animals to call home. And when warmer weather comes, the flowing water dries up entirely! Luckily, a small beaver family is around. A beaver mother and father chop down nearby trees and haul their branches into the lake. With enough roots, weeds, and mud to hold all of the wood together, the beavers have built a dam! Any sudden damages are quickly repaired by the hard-working critters. The sturdy dam holds back enough of the river’s water for the beavers to build a lodge made of even more sticks and muck. In fact, it holds back enough water to make a pond. Now a pond is a lovely home.

A beaver walks across its dam carrying branches of food at Denali National Park, Alaska

What Lives in The Beavers’ New Environment?

New plants grow around this emerging environment, thanks to the pond’s water seeping into the ground and the beaver-chopped trees allowing for more sunlight. This new flora includes tasty snacks for animals, such as joe-pyeweed for monarch butterflies and pussy willows for the beavers themselves.

Within the water, there is an abundance of yellow water-crowfoot, green algae, smartweed, and water lilies, which are another treat for beavers to munch on. Smallmouth bass, bluegills, backswimmers, ducks, and coots swim inside the pond, while dragonflies, kingfishers, tree swallows, and damselflies fly above it. In addition, reptiles, such as the painted turtle and ribbon snake, along with frogs and salamanders also enjoy this watery habitat.

Beavers Don’t Mind The Company!

Beavers share their environment with so many creatures, and they even share their home, too! Sometimes, muskrats nestle into the beaver family’s lodge and the groups live peacefully together. Back at the dam, Canada geese choose the beaver’s mucky branches as a cozy spot to have a ready-made nest. Other birds, such as mallard ducklings and great blue heron use the dam as a slick spot to catch some flies, while white-tailed deer use it as a bridge to cross the pond. Animals enjoy the beavers’ builds in so many ways.

Elk Crossing a Beaver Dam by: Janet Pesaturo on Youtube

On the other side of the dam, the rest of the river dries up, leaving a fresh meadow which is a new habitat for grazing creatures. Back on the other side, when the beavers eventually leave their dam, a new river will break through and form yet another new habitat again. Throughout their presence, beavers create ever-changing diversity of flora and fauna.