Talk:Beaver

Largest known dam

CBC News has an article noting 850-metre long dam in Alberta. Big dam! Alberta beavers build 850-metre barrier. This new discovery may need to be included in the article! --HJKeats (talk) 01:44, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I should have read the article first, it's covered already... Geeez --HJKeats (talk) 01:47, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

More details on the Alberta dam, north of Fort McMurray, Largest Beaver Dam Seen From Space - Discovery News

The dam in northern western Canada spans 850 meters (2,800 feet) and has likely been under beavers' construction since the mid-1970s clnlgr — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cln.lgr (talk • contribs) 18:21, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

I saw a documentary where they stated the largest was 1200meters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.250.21.28 (talk) 16:17, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

"first hand"

This confuses me:

Giraldus Cambrensis reported in 1188 (Itinerarium ii.iii) that it was to be found only in the Teifi in Wales and in one river in Scotland, though his observations are clearly first hand.

Why would you say though his observations are first hand? Aren't firsthand observations the best ones? --169.236.129.180 (talk) 22:14, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

The wording suggests (to this reader) that Geraldus himself had seen beavers only in those locations and assumed they survived nowhere else (in Great Britain), but that they may also have been present in other areas he had not visited or received relevant reports about. It has a whiff of interpretation, i.e. Original Research, about it and could do with clarificaton by the original contributor or someone else with access to the Itinerarium. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 09:46, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Expanding article

As long as it already is, there are important topics that are just touched on in the existing article. The online reference that I quoted is in the public domain; all of it's about beavers, and all of it's available online: http://books.google.com/books?id=ET4AAAAAQAAJ It's apparently a source for the 1911 Britannica article, and also seemed to be a source for one article reference that was only written a few years ago. There's enough quality material there to create a number of Wiki articles. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (talk) 15:54, 6 October 2008 (UTC) ball to yoU —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.198.134 (talk) 18:02, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

National Symbol - Error in Description.

Canada's postage stamp depicting the beaver was issued April 23,1851 (NOT 1849 as stated).

Reference: http://data4.collectionscanada.gc.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s1=0001&l=20&d=POST&p=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Farchivianet%2F020117%2F020117030101_e.html&r=1&f=G&SECT3=POST

Sincerely,

Bill —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Longley (talk • contribs) 01:58, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Hibernation

Hey, does anyone know if beaver's hibernate during the cold northern winter up here in Alberta? -thanks for any info... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.191.54.51 (talk) 02:10, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Covered in Beavers#General, "Beavers do not hibernate, but store sticks and logs underwater to feed on during the winter". However this page is for discussing improvements to the article, if you have other questions please try Wikipedia:Reference desk. Thanks WereSpielChequers 19:45, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

beaver habitat

I have a beaver living in a pond behind my house. There is no dam as this is a natural pond with an overflow to a nearby creek. My question is how destructive the beaver may be as to the local vegitation and the felling of trees when there is no need to build or maintain a dam. What are the best and easiest methods to prevent any destruction as I would prefer to not have to relocate him/her. Gregehman (talk) 20:59, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

As the article states, beavers will fell fully-grown trees for which they have no use. They have an instinct to gnaw, as their teeth grow constantly, so this might be a reason. They eat bark and tender saplings, and will quickly eliminate nearby sources of tasty food for them such as willow, alder and especially poplar. Lacking trees, they raid gardens and eat things like carrots and lettuce. They are extremely destructive to local vegetation, as they are voracious eaters with a drive to put on fat much like a hungry bear. Apart from their fur, their blubber keeps them warm, which can be very substantial. They will sometimes store food at the bottom of their pond or river, depending on climate (they do this more often when ice traps them underwater in northern regions,) so a single beaver might mow down 40-70 saplings/young trees per night, eating some and storing the others. More damage can be done if a colony is established. A colony is an alpha male and female, with younger offspring hanging around until the age of about two years old. At that time, the young are kicked out of the territory forcibly by the alphas. It could be that your beaver is one such "yearling," a recently evicted young beaver searching for his/her own territory. They often move about from stream to stream, so your beaver might not linger for long. If your beaver finds a mate, expect a colony of up to 15 beavers to become established in a relatively short period of time, maybe 2 years. By then, the damage potential will become significant, even if it was not when a single beaver lived there. You can try fencing the trees you don't want destroyed with barriers like fence-wire, but you might just be forcing the beaver to raid a garden or nursery nearby instead. If it doesn't leave on it's own, removal might be your best option. The info here comes from a book about beavers published in the 1980's, and I will try and use it to improve the article. It has much more up to date information than this current article, which is based on a 1911 encyclopedia. Tsarevna (talk) 14:04, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Raised importance rating

[1] An attempt is made to gauge the probability of the average reader of Wikipedia needing to look up the topic (and thus the immediate need to have a suitably well-written article on it). Topics which may seem obscure to a Western audience—but which are of high notability in other places—should still be highly rated.[2]SriMesh | talk 03:44, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Endangered?

The article doesn't have the usual rating on the endangered scale.--Hitsuji Kinno (talk) 14:58, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

That only applies to articles on specific species. This article concerns a genus. --Aranae (talk) 16:39, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

WikiProject Rodents

This is a notice to inform interested editors of a new WikiProject being proposed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Rodents --ΖαππερΝαππερ ^Babel_Alexandria 02:03, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Beaver as a symbol of industriousness

The stated reason why the beaver is chosen as a symbol or mascot is often that the animal is a symbol of industriousness. To wit, consider the expression "busy as a beaver". Should this be mentioned? How? Frotz (talk) 07:12, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Citation for Muskrats in lodges

The Life Of Mammals, The Complete Series, Episode 4 Chisellers, David Attenborough, BBC/Discovery Channel Co Production 2002 includes footage of muskrats in beaver lodges. 59.167.70.8 (talk) 09:15, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Dubious reference

"... the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta which once held the largest concentration of beaver in North America.[25]" The reference here is to a source from 1857. It is very unlikely that this sort of fact (i.e. largest concentration) could have been determined and reviewed by this date, given that large parts of Canada and the US were not even explored at this point. If the statement is in fact correct, a more recent citation should be used.

conservation status weirdness?

How come the status on "Beaver" page shows "NT", but on both American and European pages it is "LC"?

It shouldn't and I've now fixed it. --Aranae (talk) 02:30, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Question

I have heard this is a page that gets vandalized a lot. is this true? Robloxiscoolness (talk) 16:25, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, just look at the history tab. So? -- Alexf^(talk) 16:29, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Withdrawn Ucucha 06:45, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

---

Beaver → Castor (animal) — The two living species of beaver (genus Castor) form part of a much larger family, all other members of which are now extinct. Currently, the article on the genus Castor sits at "Beaver" and that on the family sits at Castoridae, suggesting that "beaver" is a common name for the genus, not the more inclusive family.

That is incorrect, as in my experience all members of the family Castoridae are usually called "beavers". For examples, see the references given in the Castoridae article, all of which (except those not specifically dealing with beavers) either equate Castoridae with "beaver" in their titles or label a member of Castoridae that is not Castor a "beaver". The only counterevidence I've seen is McKenna and Bell (1997, also cited in Castoridae), which gives "Beavers" as the common name for Castor.

As "beaver" commonly means "Castoridae" and not "Castor", the two moves I propose will bring these articles in line with our policy on article titles. Ucucha 18:13, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

• Castoridae → Beaver

• Could you explain more clearly what you think should happen to the articles. Is it simply a name swap? If so, that may confuse the general reader. Currently people looking for an article on beavers get what they want at Beaver. If they type in "beaver" and then end up at Castoridae they would be misplaced, and would have to search through to find Castor (animal), and that name would not be helpful to them. If you are proposing a rewrite of the articles to make clearer the formal terminology, then I don't think a name change is needed. Oppose on my current understanding of the request, though willing to rethink it, if my understanding is incorrect. SilkTork *^YES! 22:06, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Strong oppose The existing beaver article covers what most people would understand by beavers i.e. the 2 extant species usually known by this name. Extinct species generally don't have common names, whether a few obscure extinct species related to modern beavers should be known by this name is introducing unnecessarily obscure issues. PatGallacher (talk) 00:54, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Of course the Castoridae article should be improved, but I don't see that as a reason not to carry out the necessary moves. "Beaver" means not only the two living species, but also the extinct ones, and those are not "a few obscure extinct species", but a diverse group of well over fifty species, including such not very obscure forms as Castoroides ohioensis. Ucucha 05:35, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

• Oppose. Do I actually have to tell why or can I just let subsequent discussants state the obvious for me? — AjaxSmack 17:50, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

I would add that sabre-toothed tigers were not particulary closely related to the modern tiger, but that does not mean that "tiger" should cover the lowest level of categorization of animals which covers all of these. PatGallacher (talk) 18:59, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Diet

Given that wood is considered indigestible to most species, perhaps the article could mention how it is that the beaver is able to eat wood...? Bacteria in the stomach? Or does it have enzymes of its own to break down cellulose? RobertM525 (talk) 02:32, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Edit requests, 25 February 2011

{{edit semi-protected}} A small typo could be fixed under 'General'. Currently, a line reads "Females are as large asor larger than males of the same age". Request that it a space be included between "as" and "or" so it would read "Females are as large as or larger than males of the same age". Dr Legitimate (talk) 21:11, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Under the section "As A National Emblem", there is a list of "others who have used the beaver in their company as an organizational symbol or as their mascot". I request that you add "Golden Beaver Winery". This winery is located in Oliver BC Canada, in the beautiful South Okanagan Wine Region. The mascot name is "Goldie".

24.129.237.153 (talk) 02:50, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

 Not done - Sorry you would have to create the article on the subject first (if notable?). As red links are not normally added to this of types lists in articles. See Wikipedia:Write the article first for the reasoning y.Moxy (talk) 02:59, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Beavers are more closely related to mice than to squirrels. References: Blanga-Kanfi et al. 2009 (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/71), Horn et al. 2011 (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0014622). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.89.32.70 (talk) 19:52, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Why is this article protected? This is the encyclopedia anyone can edit, and that includes people who don't want to sign up for things. I had to log in to fix the typo mentioned above. This article was protected a fucking year go. THIS IS NOT OK. Vandalism is not an excuse for protecting articles, especially for long periods of time. Stop hurting the encyclopedia. In any case, typo is fixed now. 75.111.48.169 (talk) 05:28, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

You can request unprotection here: WP:RFPP The Interior (Talk) 05:33, 30 April 2011 (UTC)

Beaver Offspring "kit" or "knit"

Looks like there is a subtle word problem in the description of beaver offspring. The Encyclopedia of Life cites (Frazier, 1996; Hall and Kelson, 1959) as stating that the young offspring of beavers are "kit" or "kitten" rather than what looks to be in this article as "knit". I'll change this now and if someone can find a citation that refutes that, then it can be changed back. dwmc (talk) 22:19, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Building canals

Beavers also build canals to float build materials that are difficult to haul over land.[citation needed]

If noone can find a citation can this sentence be taken out? I find it hard to imagine a beaver building a canal. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.99.177.8 (talk) 21:34, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Map

The range map shows the North American beaver in green in North America, the North American beaver red in Eurasia, and the Eurasian beaver green in Eurasia. Wouldn't it be better to show, say, the North American beaver green in both places and the Eurasian beaver in red? Ordinary Person (talk) 21:59, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Oops

The beaver, one of natures best engineers, is not always right. The picture above was taken on the Black River on the north east corner of the reservation.

I'd like to include this image, but there isn't really a behaviour section. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 04:57, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

Grammar

Hi Guys. Just read through parts of the article and would like to improve some of the grammar when I realised that it is semi-protected. There is a section titled Water Quality and beavers. Right after footnote 22, the new sentence begins; reading: "Norway has many beaver..." I wish I could be of more help. Many thanks... :) GoufR (talk) 19:32, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

Could someone please provide a picture of a more intelligent looking beaver?

The beaver is considered an intelligent, resourceful animal - "nature's engineer". It is even the MIT mascot.

Yet this Beaver article displays a picture of a beaver with a decidedly "dufus" look to it. And I don't mean moderately mentally-challenged either; I mean tea-bagger dumb. If you look closely you'll see that the beaver is sporting a "Palin in 2016" button.

Seriously, couldn't someone come up with a more intelligent looking specimen, such as the Beaver on the Castoridae article?