The Beavers are rodents that have a large size, these animals are known as semi-aquatic, and have managed to spread throughout the country of the United States and even in some part of the European continent. These are hairy animals that are commonly seen very close to rivers or streams, and in fact, they are quite popular because they can build their famous wooden dams.
The diet that beavers have is really quite simple, it is mainly composed of tree bark, although they also have various aquatic-type vegetation as their preferences.
Wood-based diet
Let’s say that the main diet of most beavers is made up of wood. The most normal thing is that those trees that are approximately 2 to 6 inches (that is 5cm to 15cm) in diameter can be eaten. They are very fond of poplar, alder, willow, birch, and also mountain maple. Most beavers prefer the inner layer, this is because it is very juicy and has a lot of wood bark, with what is left they build their dams.
Other types of vegetation
You should know that we are not saying that beavers only eat wood, in fact, they also tend to eat many fruits, some vegetables, and other types of plants. American beavers generally eat water lilies, which are found naturally. Beavers also typically eat apples, roots, algae, and a wide variety of leaves. In most zoos, it is very common for them to feed them rat food, apples, broccoli, and many things that are composed of grains and that have many vitamins and minerals.
Beaver’s teeth
The teeth that beavers have been very prominent, especially if we talk about the incisors, they have a perfect design to be able to chew on wood. They grow steadily, and this is something they can do up to a 4-foot rate annually. Beavers chew a lot of wood, and for this reason, it is that their teeth tend to wear a little since if they do not they could grow through the mouth, and this could end up resulting in a condition that seems life-threatening, leads by name bad occlusion.
Storage dams
The dams that beavers build by means of pieces of wood are made when they have leftover from their food. They can store wood very close to the large buildings they have, and this would be useful for the months when there is winter and when the trees do not usually grow fast, or maybe not even grow. Let’s say that the dams are their homes, where they have colonies, they raise the entire water level and thus they have a kind of protected pit, where they store a lot of food, they do it at quite great depths. You may also be interested in reading What Do Pigeons, Goats, and Manta rays Eat.
