Wildlife Wednesday 02/18/2026

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Let’s learn about North America’s largest rodent, the American beaver!

Weighing in at an average of 60 pounds, this semiaquatic mammal is adapted to both life in the water and on land. Body features such as webbed feet, a waterproof fur coat, and flat rudderlike tail allow them to excel at swimming. Their eyes are also covered by a third clear eyelid called the nictitating membrane, which act as built-in goggles when they are underwater. And their nostrils and earholes can seal tightly when they are submerged.

Like all rodents, beavers have incisors that grow continuously throughout their lives. These huge chisel-like front teeth along with powerful chewing muscles enable them to gnaw through hardwood trees like oaks and maples.

Beavers are considered a keystone species, a species that has a large effect on the natural environment relative to its abundance. They are ecosystem engineers, and profoundly alter, create, and maintain aquatic habitats by building dams and lodges with branches, mud, and rocks. These actions and structures transform streams into ponds, wetlands, and meadows, which increases biodiversity, improves water quality, recharges groundwater, and impacts the severity of floods and droughts. The habitat they create is beneficial to many species of insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, waterfowl, and other semi-aquatic mammals.

Historically native to Ohio, beavers were extirpated (locally extinct) from the state during the 1800s due to intense overtrapping for their pelts during the fur trade, as well as habitat loss during human expansion and settlement. Now, with hunting and trapping regulations in place and population monitoring by biologists, beavers have made a comeback and their numbers are continuing to grow.