The Westchester beaver is the largest rodent found in North America. They can grow up to four or five feet long and can weigh more than 60 pounds when they reached adulthood. Beavers have short front legs but longer hind legs with webbed feet. They have huge, flat, and almost hairless tail. They use those flat tails to balance their body as they crawl on trees. They also use their tails to wiggle in the water especially when they are getting away from predators.



Appearance and biology
Their bodies are covered with dark brown fur at the back and light brown on their chest, down to their belly. They can swim and stay in the water for a longer time because their ears and nose close and their eyes are covered with a special membrane. Do you know that a New York beaver’s fur is waterproof? They have the ability to coat themselves with a special kind of oil called castoreum. This also helps them stay warm even they’re underwater, aside from the fact that they have layers of thick fat under their skin.

Diet and vegetation
Beavers feed on woods, bark of trees, especially the cambium, the soft tissue that can be found at the bottom of the bark of a tree. Among the bark of trees they love are the ones from alder, aspen, beech, birch, cotton, and maple. They also feed on roots of plants and buds of flowers and watery plants.

Habitation
Beavers can be found near bodies of water such assmall lakes, marshes, ponds, rivers, and streams. You can spot a Westchester beaver living in a place when there are mud islands and domes of muds that can form up to almost feet tall. There can be one or two point of entry on those domes. Some beavers also build burrows, depending on how wet the soil is.

Life Cycle of Beavers
Beavers mate January and March where it is cold and later in the year in hot areas. Female’s gestation takes three months and gives birth to only one baby per birth each year. Baby New York beavers can swim and explore outside as early as one day after birth. Both parents take care of their babies until they are about two years old. When they are three years old, they can look for their own mate. Beavers can live up to 20 years old, depending on prey and forces of nature.

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