Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

Can I Stock My Land With Beaver?

Other than humans, the beaver is the only mammal able to recreate its environment on a large scale. The beaver does this by damming and building in and around waterways such as lakes, streams and rivers. This is the major factor that determines the success of introducing beaver to your land, which should be in a rural area.

Habitat and Behavior
- Beaver offspring are called kits.
  
  Beavers exist all over North America. The exceptions include central and southern Florida and most of the southwest in the U.S., virtually all of Mexico and the northern parts of Canada. These semi-aquatic herbivores are the largest rodent in North America. They can weigh 60 pounds, be over 50 inches in length and live up to 24 years. A family of beavers, called a colony, needs about a half-mile of waterside habitat of their own. Beavers are monogamous and only mate once a year. The young leave the colony after two years. Beavers will remain in a particular spot indefinitely if there is an adequate source of food and a body of water.
Environmental Benefits
- Wetlands are crucial to the ecosystem. Beavers create these marshy areas with their dams. Usually beavers start a home on the side of a stream or lake using one stick. From the one stick they build their dome and dam up the body of water to form a pond. The pond is then home to fish, birds and other wildlife. Many times, the species are endangered. In June 2010, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was fined $4 million by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, collectively, for demolishing a beaver dam that killed about 12,000 watercress darters, an endangered fish. The 2008 fish kill was half of the largest known population.
Neighbors and Damages
- Your land can benefit from the environmental enrichment of a beaver population. You must, however, factor in your neighbors, their perception of your idea and the possible damages created. The perception is that beavers can become pests. Beavers don't overpopulate; however, when the young leave the dome they can wander for many miles before settling down. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that beavers do millions of dollars in damages each year in states like North Carolina and Mississippi. The causes include chewing on wooden decks and fences, destroying crops by flooding them and obstructing running streams. Fish like trout must be in a stream that flows to live and reproduce. Whether you can, or should, stock your land with beaver certainly depends on your acreage. Even 1,000 acres is only about 1.5 square miles.
Dangers
- Beavers don't bite and are not a physical threat to humans. However, beavers could contaminate your source of drinking water and cause you to have giardiasis, an infection of the small intestine. If you, or someone you interact with, drink the untreated water in the stream, lake or river, then you could contract the infection as well. This is a concern when deciding to stock your land with beaver.

Nature