North American beaver Facts for Kids
Castor canadensis · KAS-ter kan-uh-DEN-sis
Beavers build dams of sticks and mud to make their own ponds.
- 🏃 5 mph8.1 km/h1
- ⚖️ 35 to 60 lb16 to 27 kg2
- 📏 35 in to 3.3 ft89 cm to 1 m3 long
- 🎂 8 to 10 years8 to 10 years1
- 🍽️ plants
- Doing fine (Least Concern)
Beavers have a flat tail and big orange teeth. They chew down trees to build dams. A beaver family lives in a lodge in the pond.
A beaver's orange front teeth never stop growing, and chewing wood keeps them short. It piles sticks and mud across a stream to make a dam, and the water behind the dam becomes a pond. In the pond the family builds a lodge, a dome of sticks with a door that opens underwater.
Beavers are the largest rodents in North America. When a beaver slaps its flat tail on the water, it makes a loud splash that warns the rest of the family. Their ponds and wetlands become homes for fish, frogs, ducks, otters and many other animals, and they hold water through dry times. Beavers were trapped for their fur until they were nearly gone from many places, but they were protected and now live again across most of North America.
How big is a North American beaver?
North American beaver in numbers
| Length | 35 in to 3.3 ft89 cm to 1 m3including tail |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 35 to 60 lb16 to 27 kg2 |
| Top speed (swimming) | 5 mph8.1 km/h1swimming |
| How long it lives | 8 to 10 years8 to 10 years1in the wild |
| What it eats | bark, twigs, leaves and water plants |
| Where it lives | streams, rivers and lakes in the forests of North America |
| What kind | Mammals |
| Is it in danger? | Doing fine (Least Concern)4 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- A beaver's tail slap is a loud warning that carries across the pond.
- Beavers have clear eyelids that work like swim goggles.
- A beaver can close its nose and ears underwater.
Compare the North American beaver
Friends and neighbours
Capybara
North American river otter
MooseThree questions
Books about the North American beaver, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the North American beaver for free.
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Prince William Forest Park, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Acadia, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Yellowstone, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, North American beaver (Q81056), checked 30 October 2026.