Beaver are clumsy on land and build dams to create ponds. They are well adapted to the aquatic environment and spend most of their lives in a lodge or burrow in, or adjacent to, the pond or stream and within 100’ to 300’ from the water’s edge. A family of beaver can build a 35’ dam in a week. Beaver are considered a keystone species because they create habitat for a whole host of other species from invertebrates to fish, to mammals such as otter, muskrat, mink, raccoon, moose, black bear, bobcat and to a huge assortment of bird species. Check out this video to see the number of wildlife that utilized this beaver created wetland and/or their dam to access food, travel from one side of the pond to the other or raise young.
Background:
Beaver were abundant in North America prior to European settlement, but unregulated harvest and habitat change drastically reduced the number of beaver and in some locations, eliminated them from the landscape by the mid to late 1800’s. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reintroduced beaver back into the state in the 1920’s and embarked on a live trap and transfer program to reestablish them into potential habitats.
