January 10, 2010 - Beaver Holiday

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Mammals use a variety of strategies to get through the winter. Some put on a thick, fur coat. Some stuff their cupboards full of food. Others sleep the winter away. One mammal, though, takes a holiday of sorts. The phrase “busy as a beaver” describes a beaver’s lifestyle for most of the year. Beavers construct and maintain a dam to raise the water level so there is room to swim under the ice safe from predators. They live in a snug house of mud and sticks where they stay cozy and warm. When hungry, beavers simply visit the refrigerator for a snack. Actually, they swim into the pond to a stash of branches, cut and trimmed, and stuck in the bottom mud. They worked through the fall to tuck away this food supply, and now it’s time for a break.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.