Beavers are large rodents widely known for their ability to build dams. However, in addition to this, scientists have collected quite a lot Interesting Facts about beavers.
- Dams built by beavers turn out to be the only structure in the world made by an animal that can be seen from space. They are built by beavers to protect their home from predators, which they place in the middle of the pond. When starting to build a dam, they always finish the job and subsequently prevent it from collapsing. Average height structures range from 1.2 to 1.5 meters, and the length can reach several tens of meters. The longest known dam was 0.7 km. Most often, dams are located near poplar or aspen groves, since the young bark of these trees is a favorite delicacy for beavers.
- Beavers have very large lungs and a large liver. This structural feature of the body helps animals stay under water for a long time, about 15 minutes, while covering a distance of up to 0.7 km. In addition, they have a movable eyelid that protects their eyes and allows them to navigate in the water. The animal's tail regulates the depth of immersion and is also used instead of a keel.
- Beavers are excellent family men. The cubs are under family care until they are two years old. And usually a family consists of two litters, last year and current year.
- The average lifespan of animals is approximately 10-12 years. Mostly they die under trees they have gnawed. In captivity, the average lifespan of beavers almost doubles. Weight adult reaches from 15 to 30 kg, which is approximately equal to the weight of an 8-year-old child. Therefore, they are considered the largest rodents in Europe.
- In addition, many interesting facts about beavers related to history are known.
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- For example, in Canada, the skins of these animals were used as a monetary equivalent. And in exchange for the skin you could buy a lot of useful things.
- Catholics of the Middle Ages considered them fish, which allowed them to eat their meat during Lent. The Orthodox were not allowed to eat beaver meat at all, and during confession they could be asked whether this animal was eaten as food.
- In Rus', before its conquest by the Mongols, beavers were considered valuable property, the theft of which was subject to a considerable fine for those times, amounting to 12 hryvnia. Beaver skins were valued much higher than fox and wolf skins.
- There is a legend about King Solomon, which says that the secretion of beaver glands was used by him as a cure for headaches. The most interesting thing is that this may actually be true, since this substance contains a large number of aspirin. In addition, the secretion of beaver glands is used by perfumers to create elite perfumes.
The river beaver lives in the freshwater environment of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. This animal was recently on the verge of extinction. This situation has arisen due to the fault of humanity, which likes to wear warm hats and fur coats.
WITH aquatic environment The whole life of a beaver is connected. To make it easier for the animal to swim, there are membranes on its hind legs, and a large tail also helps.
The beaver reaches a weight of up to 23 kg and a length of 135 cm. Females are always smaller than males. The beaver is characterized by a blunt muzzle, small ears and short legs. The beaver's fur consists of several layers: the first layer is coarse red-brown hair, the second is a gray undercoat that prevents hypothermia.
The reservoirs in which beavers live should be in forested areas, deep and with a slow flow. Animals often create artificial conditions, “making” huge dams from tree branches, algae, and silt.
Beavers diligently build a dam in order to change the direction of water flow. Underwater, a beaver dam can be up to 3 meters thick, and from above it narrows to about 60 cm. The strength of the dam is surprising; it can easily withstand the weight of a horse!
Beavers purposefully change water flow so that water floods dry places and a pond is formed in which the animal will build a hut. Their house resembles an upside down cup. There are 2 rooms in the house: a family of beavers lives in one, this room is filled with rubble. And near the exit, the second room is a pantry with food supplies for the winter. The beaver's house can be seen above the surface of the water. But for protection purposes, the entrance is located under. water.
Schematic representation of a beaver dam and house. As you can see, the house is a separate building.
As expected, there are two exits from the house: the front exit and the emergency exit.
This is all great, of course, but why do beavers need dams? The answer is simple, in winter these rodents remain active and they need a dam of sufficient depth so that they do not freeze to the very bottom. The dam helps raise the water level. In general, you need to be well prepared for winter, otherwise you’ll be in trouble :-).
Film: “Beavers. Great builders." From the series “Alone with Nature.”
Interesting video about the life of beavers. By the way, did you know that beaver dams They have the shape of an arc concave against the flow, and all modern dams built by man have the same shape. And it is no coincidence that an arc concave against the flow can the best way resist water pressure. On last minute Absolutely a blast :)
Film for children: All about animals [Beavers].
Idyllic video: Beaver washes his hair / Beaver Resting.
A beaver can also get along with people without difficulty: “They sheltered a beaver (Beaver Semyon).”
Semyon. Continuation.
Beavers belong to the order of rodents, the Beaver family. These mammals are divided into only two species: the common beaver and the Canadian beaver. The first is more common in Mongolia, the Baltic and Atlantic coast. The second one lives in North America. Each of them is divided into its own subspecies.
Appearance of beavers
Among all rodents, beavers are among the largest. The weight can reach 33 kg, and the length can be 1.2 meters. The limbs are shortened, the front ones are weak. There are special membranes on the fingers, with the help of which the beaver swims freely under water. Quite strong claws. The paddle-shaped tail on average reaches a length of 25 - 30 cm and a width of 15 cm. There is no hair on the tail, only at the base. All wool is quite tough. The ears are small, protruding slightly from under the fur. Underwater, the ears and nostrils close. The teeth are usually without roots; Only older members of the species sometimes develop weak molars. The beaver's build is based on its semi-aquatic lifestyle.
Beaver activity
Beavers settle near water bodies. Wide and fast-flowing rivers, as well as reservoirs that completely freeze in cold times, are not suitable for the life activities of these rodents. They prefer lakes, ponds, slow rivers, reservoirs, quarries. Bushy and herbaceous coastal vegetation is required, which is a constant source of nutrition. The body type of beavers makes them excellent divers. Underwater, all their vital functions are stably maintained for 10-15 minutes, since big sizes the liver and lungs allow you to store air. But on land their movements are a little slowed down.
They live both individually and in families. The area where a family is founded (5 – 8 individuals) is occupied throughout the life of several generations. The size of this zone depends on the number of representatives in the family and the area of the reservoir: a small lake can be a haven for a single beaver or a whole family; in large reservoirs several families can live at once. On land, beavers do not stray far from home. Their communication is based on postures, strikes, screams and special scent marks. Particular activity is observed in the evening and night hours.
Burrows, which are their homes, are located only on steep banks or cliffs. You can only get there underwater. The burrows represent a whole system of labyrinths with several entrances. Beavers are very reliable builders. All passages are firmly compacted. The residential area is located at a meter depth. The floor is always above the water level, because when the water in the river rises, the beaver, scraping resources from the ceiling, stabilizes the situation.
Beavers are famous for their dams. They build it exclusively on reservoirs that are unstable in relation to the water level. The basis is branches, silt, clay and other resources that beavers obtain on land. These structures help regulate the water level in reservoirs to preserve the integrity of houses. For construction, beavers choose places where trees grow close to the shore, because they do not have to travel long distances from their homes in search of the necessary material.
Beaver nutrition
Beavers rely on tree bark and other vegetation for their diet. As a rule, the diet does not consist of one type of tree, but several. To switch from one feeding mode to another, a beaver needs a certain adaptation period. They love willow, birch, linden, and bird cherry. They don’t eat oak, but they use it as a base for buildings; they love acorns. All supplies are stored under water.
Beaver breeding
Female beavers breed once a year and produce from 1 to 6 individuals. Pregnancy lasts about 100 days, and mating occurs directly under water. Cubs weigh approximately 0.5 kg. Two days after birth, they can already swim, because the female teaches everything in real life. early period. After 2 years, beavers become mature and leave the house.
I recently photographed beavers. According to the plot, the beaver had to run across the frame, pick up a book in its paws, start leafing through it and pretend to read. We immediately told the customer that we would try very hard to find reading beavers, but most likely there are not many of them. I love my job because you are always faced with something new. You can’t immediately say no to the customer, because we are professionals. So we said that we would definitely look and started looking. For zoos, animal theatres, trainers. And everyone told us: “Are you out of your mind? Beavers cannot be trained. And even if they do, it takes months to get them to read.” And we have a shoot in a week, but we were still looking. And then, at the end of the third day, a solemn administrator appears at the office door, thoroughly smelling of wind and beavers, who says that there is one private beaver farm in the Moscow region, which he found, and even rented there short video. In this video, the beaver responds to the command “Start!” ran into the frame, picked up a book and began leafing through it. It turns out that this beaver house sometimes hosts small performances for children and there is just such a concert number there. We were extremely happy and sent the video to the customer. We were filled with joy, excitement, and pride. The answer comes: “No. This is some kind of dark beaver. And he has a strange tail. You need to look for a lighter beaver and a larger one. We remind you that filming is coming soon and please hurry up. In three days, only one beaver came from you, we were counting on options.” As you know, they don’t look for a beaver from a beaver. The producer sat down to write the answer, but kept erasing the first line, because every time he started with the question: “Are you crazy?” You can’t immediately start a letter like this, because we are professionals. So we said that we would definitely look and started looking. We call the beaver house and check the availability of lighter reading beavers with beautiful tails (preferably larger ones). They say to us: “Are you crazy?” Not because they are unprofessional, but simply normal people.
Sometimes, when there is a meeting with a customer, you want to turn on video mode on your phone and say: “Don’t pay attention, don’t pay attention, continue, please.” Post it on YouTube and get a hundred million views in a minute.
When it became clear that there was only one reading beaver in the whole world (and that one, unfortunately, was dark, small and had a different tail), the next stage of contact schizophrenia began: “Let’s color the beaver!” And the customer begins to naturally send color options for hair dyes, which are usually presented in human hairdressing salons. The colors were named so as to attract women: young Japanese cherry and juicy brown. I’ve already had this happen in my life when a customer didn’t like the black spots on a white dog. They called a make-up artist, who drew a stencil (!!!) and, applying it to the dog, applied spots of the desired shape (the shape of the spots was approved for a week). Of course, it is possible to make a juicy brown-haired beaver out of a beaver. It is not difficult to imagine a beaver the color of young Japanese cherry. But it is absolutely impossible to imagine the fuck.
Sometimes there is absolutely no strength left for anything. And I want to say: “Excuse me, could you put your neck in my hand and begin to sharply inflate it excessively so that I can strangle you, otherwise I have absolutely no strength left to even kill you.” Having fought off painting the beaver, we argued a little more about tying a different tail to it. And they convinced me to feed the beaver until it was full, so that he would become fatter and larger, because there was still a day left before filming, he would not have time to gain weight. In the end, if there is nothing human left in you, you can stuff a beaver with hay, but then he will not read or run. On set, everyone was waiting for the comment that the beaver should read out loud. And better with expression. And by the way, what should he read?
And so sometimes I go to the site, look and think: “Fuck, you have my money.” And I went on working. Well, that's not always the case, of course. There are also nice people.
The other day we filmed a video for “Basta”. Before this, I had no idea who they were. It turned out that “Basta” is Vasily. I usually don't write about those I work with. But Vasily turned out to be very a good man, it’s impossible not to write about him. I fell in love with Vasily. We poured water on him the whole day, sent hot steam, and before that, even in winter, he was running in flip-flops and shorts in the snow, with an icy wind blowing on him. And Vasily didn’t say a word. He endured and tried. At seven in the morning, when the 25th hour of filming began and Vasily had to leave for the airport, because today he had two concerts in another city for three hours each, he said what I’ve been thinking about for years: “Guys, you’re so good.” marijuana and therefore I have only one request to you: let me go.”
Today I walk and think: that’s it, I can’t do it anymore. I think, how long can I do what I don’t want, how long can I work with those I don’t like. How long can you allow yourself to be painted either cherry or beaver? And the inner voice says: “You need money, you have big debts for the apartment, you are responsible for your mother.” And then I think that maybe if I do what I really want, there will be more money? And she abandoned two projects. So far there is no more money, but, on the other hand, only three hours have passed.
Answering numerous questions: yes, there is such a button in computer graphics, called “Recolor the beaver”. And so they did. There is another button: "Remake the tail." And the "Make the beaver fat" button. All these buttons were pressed.
The common or river beaver (Castor fiber) is a semi-aquatic mammal belonging to the order of rodents. Currently, it is one of two representatives of the small beaver family, as well as the most large rodent, belonging to the fauna of the Old World.
Description of the common beaver
The river beaver is the second largest rodent after. A mammal like the common beaver has quite impressive size, as well as a rather menacing, but very representative appearance.
Appearance
Range, habitats
Ordinary beavers live in burrows or so-called huts, the entrance to which is always under water. The burrow is dug by a rodent in a steep and steep bank; it is a rather complex labyrinth with several entrances. The walls and ceiling of the hole are leveled and thoroughly compacted. The hut is built in areas where setting up a hole is simply impossible - on flat and low, swampy shores and on shallows. Construction begins no earlier than the end of summer. The finished hut has a cone-shaped appearance and is different great height with a diameter of no more than 10-12 m. The walls of the hut are carefully coated with silt and clay, thanks to which the building is an impregnable fortress for most predators.
Common beavers are very clean mammals that never litter their home with food debris or excrement. On reservoirs that have changing water levels, beaver families prefer to build the famous dams, the frame foundation for which is most often trees that have fallen into the river, lined with a variety of building materials. The standard length of the finished dam can reach 20-30 m, with a width at the base of 4-6 m and a height of 2.0-4.8 m.
This is interesting! The record size belongs to the dam built by beavers on the Jefferson River in Montana, the length of which reached as much as 700 meters.
For construction needs and for the purpose of procuring food, the common beaver cuts down trees, first gnawing them with its teeth at the very base. Then the branches are chewed off, and the trunk itself is divided into several parts.
An aspen with a diameter of 50-70 mm is felled by a beaver in about five minutes, and a tree with a diameter of just under half a meter is felled and cut in one night. During this type of work, beavers climb hind legs and rest on the tail, and the jaws work like a saw. Beavers' incisors are self-sharpening, consisting of fairly hard and durable dentin.
Some of the branches from fallen trees are actively eaten by beavers directly on the spot, while the other is demolished and towed or floated through the water towards a dwelling or to the site of a dam construction. The paths trampled during movement are gradually filled big amount water and are called “beaver channels”, which are used by rodents to melt woody food. The area transformed in the process active work common beavers is called a “beaver landscape.”
Diet of the common beaver
Beavers belong to the category of strictly herbivorous semi-aquatic mammals that feed exclusively on tree bark or plant shoots. Such animals give particular preference to aspen and willow, poplar and birch, as well as a variety of herbaceous plants, including water lily and egg capsule, iris and cattail, young reed. Abundance of wood soft rocks is a necessary condition when an ordinary beaver chooses a place to live.
Plants of minor importance in the daily diet common beaver, are represented by hazel, linden and elm, as well as bird cherry. Alder and oak, as a rule, are not used for food purposes by mammalian rodents, and are used only in construction and for arranging buildings.
This is interesting! Beavers also eat acorns very readily, and the daily amount of food consumed should be about 18-20% of total weight animal.
Thanks to large teeth and a powerful bite, ordinary or river beavers very easily and quickly cope with almost any plant solid feed, and rich in cellulose food products digested by microflora in the intestinal tract.
As a rule, a mammal eats only a few types of wood, since in order to switch to new type beavers require an adaptation period to allow intestinal microorganisms to adapt to the new type of diet. With the onset of spring and summer, the amount of grassy food in the beaver's diet increases significantly.
In autumn, the semi-aquatic rodent begins to prepare woody food for the winter.. The reserves are stored in water, which allows them to almost completely preserve all their food and taste qualities. The average volume of winter food reserves per family is about 65-70 cubic meters.
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