You may have guessed it already, depending on how much you know about Beavers! Most of us did not grow up around Beavers. There were no Beavers in SW Oklahoma where I grew up. But, I was always fascinated with them and with their ability to build dams and lodges and raise families! I also admired them for their swimming ability. It always looked to me like they were having a good time. Probably the first live Beavers I saw were living in a Zoo!
In Great Britain and the United States, Beavers were, for the most part, hunted very close to extinction for their warm, water-resistant fur, their scent glands, and in some cases, their extraordinary flat tails. Beaver hats and coats were in high fashion for at least 300 years, from 1550 to 1850. As they were hunted down and removed from most of civilization, the environments they inhabited began to change. Farming and ranching took over much of their territory, destroying wetlands, lowering the water table, and erasing biodiversity!
It has only been in the last 20 or so years that Beavers were found in the wilderness or brought out of zoos and reintroduced to specific areas. Scotland began a trial period for Beavers in 2009, following 400 years when there were no Beavers in Scotland. During this trial period, another group of Beavers were unofficially “reintroduced” in Scotland, and both groups flourished.
Beavers are amazing and very efficient engineers. In the right environment, they can build a dam across a flowing stream in a few days. They can build a 35 foot dam in about a week. Their lodges take longer because they are built for safety from floods, a place to escape predators, and a nursery for their children. Their lodges are sturdy, water-resistant, and often at least 10 feet high!
Beavers, as engineers, seem to have excellent instincts about where to build their dams, which trees to bring down, and how high to build them. There were many unexpected benefits from these carefully placed dams. The first and most obvious was that water running in streams slowed down and began to spread out. As the water spread, it created a “wetland”, giving the water time to soak into the soil, raising the underground water level. By slowing the flow of water through the land, it helped prevent a dry stream bed during droughts or a flood caused by unexpected rainfall.
By slowing the water flow, this allowed silt deposits which enriched the soil. These wetlands provided the perfect environment for biodiversity of plants and small creatures like frogs, lizards, dragonflies, pollinators, and butterflies. Small fish began to appear and soon different species of birds showed up and enjoyed the feast! In some areas of Great Britain and the United States, this “sudden” biodiversity was surprising. Because there had been so few Beavers anywhere to be observed, ecologists and landowners had no idea what to expect. Most people were delighted.
Beavers are considered a “Keystone species” because they create habitats that support and encourage biodiversity. And, they do it faster and more efficiently than human engineers! During the last 8 to 12 years, Beavers have been reintroduced in many areas for the specific purpose of providing habitat for such species such as salmon in NW Washington.
Next week, I’ll cover more about the wonderful benefits Beavers create when they are brought into specific areas. When environmentalists began “reintroducing” Beavers in Great Britain and the United States, they had no idea what would happen or how quickly conditions in specific areas would improve. More about these Amazing Engineers next week … !!!
