It’s Only Natural

By Star Childs

Many folks have noticed increased beaver activity in wetlands alongside some of the roads in town. This is not because there are necessarily more beaver in our area than in other years, but rather

Illustration by Leslie Watkins

the beaver have returned to these areas where adequate food and habitat resources abound once again.

A brief discussion with one of the beaver control experts in our area confirms this. He has not noticed any increase in their numbers, but he says they have been more active due to the relatively mild winter thus far.

When questioned about the seemingly inordinate evidence of beaver activity this year, I simply reply, “It’s what they do.” Tree felling, gnawing on wetland shrubs and impounding water are all part of their basic preparation for winter. Not knowing how severe or lengthy the approaching winter will be, they try to collect a surplus supply of fresh-cut branches and tree limbs to drag into their impoundment areas near their beaver lodge. It can be stored under the ice and dragged into the lodge should the winter cold freeze solid locking them in their quarters.

If a midwinter thaw occurs, as it did this year, they can emerge back into the riparian areas around their pond and continue feeding and felling more food.  As one who has tried his own hand at felling trees (but not using my teeth), I always feel sorry for the beaver that gnaws for days only to have the tree hang up in a neighboring tree. All that hard work results in no net food unless a strong wind completes the job that gravity failed to do.

Beaver derive their sustenance from the inner bark or cambium of the trees or shrubs they cut. This is the thin, carbohydrate-rich living tissue where much of the metabolic activity of woody vegetation takes place. The cells of the cambium account for all the movement of water up the tree as well as the downward movement of sugars and starches to feed the roots.

One wonders why beaver sometimes attack large trees, which can take days on end to eventually topple. But if they are successful, the bounty of cambial tissue in the branches and twigs of that large tree, not to mention the material along the stem itself, serves as a bonanza for the beaver right at the water’s edge. This negates their having to go further afield to collect many more stems from wetland shrubs, which can expose them to predators. In engineering and business this is considered efficient allocation of time and resources, but for the beaver, it’s a matter of getting more bang for his buck teeth.