Beaver

About

The European beaver was once widespread in Scotland until the 16^th century where it was hunted to extinction for its fur and castoreum. The beaver was reintroduced to Scotland in 2009 as part of a project run by SNH to reintroduce the species, and in 2016 it was determined that beavers could remain as a native species within Scotland. In Scotland, beavers do not hibernate and can be found at the Scottish Beaver Trail at Knapdale, Argyll, at Loch of the Lowes, and in parts of the Tay, Earn and Forth catchments.

The preferred habitat of the beaver is open woods alongside rivers and lakes. In the late spring and summer they eat mainly aquatic plants, grasses, ferns and shrubs but at other times of the year they eat mostly woody species. Beavers live in family groups of three to five which comprise of adults, kits and yearlings. Beavers are semi-aquatic and are mostly active at dawn and dusk.

Beavers are a keystone species meaning that they play a vital role in the ecosystem. Beavers alter their surroundings, felling trees and bushes for food, constructing dams and moving plant material throughout their range. They create ponds and canals which hold back water, retaining topsoil and collecting sediment, pollutants and nutrients. This makes downstream waterbodies cleaner, clearer and less prone to flooding. Beavers create biodiverse and fertile wetland or ‘beaver meadows’. Most of our native tree species will coppice and create new growth when gnawed by beavers. This creates glades and provides age diversity and deadwood in our woodlands – perfect for our other wildlife.

How to identify

The European beaver is heavily built and robust, as large as Labrador dog but on short legs. Its most distinctive features are a broad flat tail covered in scales and webbed feet. Additionally, beavers have small eyes and ears, and light brown fur. Their fur is very dense with 230,000 hairs per cm². While swimming, beavers might be mistaken for otters but they sit higher in the water and have directional swimming patterns.

Did you know ?

Beavers make dams so that they can look for food and raise kits while in the protection of water. The work they do when coppicing trees and build dams creates wetland habitats that benefits a vast number of other species which include voles, amphibians, dragonflies and birds. Beavers also have a third, transparent eyelid that protects their eyes underwater. Along with this adaptation they also have inner lips to prevent their mouths filling with water when gnawing wood and can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes.  They are the largest rodent in Europe and can weigh the same as 1500 mice.

How you can help? 

Did you know you can help wildlife in your local river ? You can do this in many ways from reporting pollution to SEPA, by not flushing wet wipes down the toilet and even at one of our many conservation volunteer days. Check out our Get Involved page for more information on how you can get involved with your local river.

You can also help the Trust better understand the distribution of beavers throughout the Forth District. If you spot a beaver or signs a beaver was at a particular location, please report it to us by emailing a grid reference, photo and description of activity to trust@forthriverstrust.org .