European Beaver

Characteristics:
The beaver is Europe’s largest rodent. Its body length is 80–100 cm, with a tail about 30 cm long. Adult weight can reach up to 30 kg. It has a broad, flat, scaly tail, short legs, and webbed hind feet. The fur is dense and waterproof, usually brown to dark brown. The large orange incisors grow continuously and are used for cutting down trees and stripping bark.

Habitat:
Lives along lakes, rivers, and wetlands in forested or mixed landscapes. Beavers build lodges or burrows with underwater entrances and can also create dams to regulate water levels.

Behaviour:
Beavers are mostly nocturnal and excellent swimmers. They live in family groups consisting of a mated pair and their offspring. They mark their territory with scent mounds and the secretion castoreum.

Diet:
Strictly herbivorous. Eats bark, twigs, leaves, aquatic plants, and roots. Favourites include aspen, birch, willow, and alder. In winter, the beaver feeds on branches stored underwater during summer.

Reproduction:
Mating occurs in January–February. The gestation period is about 3½ months, and the female gives birth to 2–4 kits in May–June. The kits are born fully furred and can swim almost immediately.

Tracks and signs:

• Tracks: Forefoot prints are about 6 cm long; hindfoot prints up to 13 cm and webbed.
• Gnaw marks: Characteristic cone-shaped tree stumps where bark and wood have been chewed away.
• Dams and lodges: Built from sticks, mud, and vegetation.
• Droppings: Oval, 2–3 cm long, often found near water.

Distribution:
Found throughout most of Sweden except in the high mountain regions. The species was reintroduced in the early 1900s after being hunted to extinction for its fur and castoreum (scent secretion).

Hunting:
Beavers are mainly hunted in spring, by stalking or waiting near lodges and feeding areas at dawn or dusk. They are cautious but predictable in their behaviour.

Firearm class (Sweden):
Beaver hunting requires a class 1 & 2 rifle.

Think for the hunting exam:

• Europe’s largest rodent.
• Herbivore and nocturnal.
• Builds lodges and dams.
• Mates in winter, kits born in May–June.
• Hunted with class 1-2 rifle.
• Recognised by cone-shaped gnaw marks and flat tail.