Get your mind out of the gutter, or your crotch, I'm talking about the big, four-legged water rodents here. This video explains how we can partner with beavers to help battle climate change effects and habitat destruction.
Most of us know beavers build dams and like the water. A lot of people don't know a whole lot more than that. Beavers are the second largest rodent, behind the South American capybara. Yep, they're related to mice, rats and squirrels. They are really big animals, with bodies that are 2 1/2 to almost 4 feet long, plus a 1' to 2' flat, scaly tail. Adult beavers can range from 25 to up to about 66 pounds in weight. They build dams in streams and rivers out of logs, sticks, mud, and vegetation. They also build lodges to live in, big mounds of mud, branches, and debris, with underwater entrances and tunnels and dens inside.
This video goes into the dams that beavers build, which don't just create small ponds, they change the local ecosystem in a big way. Those changes, like the ponds and channels, help create more habitat, keep the immediate area wetter, and help fight forest fires. This short video above details how beavers help stream and river habitats, and how they can be used to help fight the some of the negative effects of climate change.
So as we humans try to figure out how to screw up the Earth's environment less, remember that lots of big, hardworking, beavers can help make the world a better place.
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