Spring is a truly magical time of year. The sun starts to get higher in the sky, days are longer, and temperatures are increasing, kick starting nature up from its winter slumber. Wildlife watching at this time of year is a wonderous occasion, and as I walk around our Dorset Beaver Project site the first flowers are coming into bloom, birds are singing from the treetops, and you can’t help but feel energised by the seasonal change underway! 

Speaking of change, in the UK nothing can transform a landscape quite like a beaver (apart from us human beings). These influential creatures are commonly termed ecosystem engineers due to their habits which famously includes dam building and wetland creation.   

Although actual sightings are rare at our project site due to their predominantly nocturnal habits, it’s not hard to see from their appearance that beavers are incredibly unique mammals, and their anatomy has many features adapted to help them thrive in the freshwater environment in which they live. 

The tail is a very distinctive and obvious starting point. A beaver’s tail is flat and scaley and is made up of fatty tissue that act as a fat store in winter, but it also has many other uses. Being 30-40cm long when fully grown, it provides a large surface area for making a loud splashing sound when slapped on the surface of the water – the ‘beaver tail slap’ is a way of communicating to other beavers in the area, warning them of potential danger. The tail is also used as a balancing aid when moving heavy materials during dam building, and as a rudder to steer them when swimming. 

A large-rounded body and thick fur means these semi-aquatic rodents are well insulated and equipped for living amongst cold freshwater bodies. Beavers are the second largest rodents in the world and an adult beaver can easily weigh more than 20kg. Their fur is made up of two layers, a soft thick downy layer, plus a layer of longer guard hairs. They can have as many as 23,000 hairs per cm² on their bellies, and up to 12,000 hairs per cm² on their backs. 

A beaver’s hind feet are also large and webbed, meaning they are ideal for propelling themselves through the water when swimming at, or beneath the surface. These impressive back feet also have a specially adapted split-grooming claw on their second toe, a perfect tool for grooming, helping to maintain their thick fur. Having our very own Dorset Beaver Project site means we can closely observe these unique features and capture elusive behaviour with the use of discrete trail cameras.

A beaver’s clawed forepaws are small in comparison. They are, however, incredibly dexterous and are very much hand-like, helping them to do tasks such as intricately turn their food while feeding, or burrowing underwater to create a tunnel entrance to their lodge. 

The head of a beaver also has several adaptations to aid living in and around water. The eyes, ears and nose are all lined up high on the skull, meaning that when a beaver swims on the surface of the water, all three of these sensual features are above the water. 

Eyesight is not a beaver’s strong point; their vision is fairly poor. However, they do have secondary eyelids which they can close and see through whilst swimming, acting like goggles to protect their eyes when underwater. Their ears are small and have a flap of skin which stops water getting in, and their noses have nostrils which can close, also keeping water out. These are very important adaptations, as a beaver’s sense of smell and hearing are strong and vitally important. 

In summary, beavers are incredibly well adapted, possessing many features that help them to thrive in and around freshwater habitats, and our local Dorset Beaver Project and its discoveries will help us to learn and understand more about these fascinating animals.  

Keep your eyes peeled for the next Beaver Blog for updates on the Dorset Beaver Project.

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