21 Brand New Beaver Coloring Pages – Free to Print and Color
Free Printable Beaver Coloring Pages
A mammal belonging to the order of rodents, or gnawing animals, the beaver has been recognized as a master engineer. By using teeth and paws, beavers construct lodges, storehouses, dams, and canals. The animal is also known for its aquatic lifestyle as well as for its beautiful fur.
The scientific name for the North American beaver is Castor canadensis. This animal once ranged over North America from Mexico to the Arctic regions. But its numbers are now reduced, and it is confined largely to northern wooded regions.
The Old World beaver, Castor fiber, was once common throughout all of northern Europe, but it is now almost unknown except in parts of the Scandinavian peninsula, Germany, and Siberia. It is extinct in England. Subspecies include the Scandinavian, Elbe, Rhone, Polish, Ural, Mongolian, Canadian, Michigan, Newfoundland, Rio Grande, and Golden-bellied beavers.
The beaver is the largest rodent in North America and the second largest in the world. Only the South American capybara is larger. An adult beaver may grow to be about 4 feet (1.3 meters) long, including its tail, and may weigh more than 60 pounds (27 kilograms). In prehistoric times giant beavers 71/2feet (2.25 meters) long lived in North America. The spiral underground burrows that they dug eventually filled with debris that became fossilized. These masses of stone are called devil’s corkscrews.
The beaver has a thick body covered with a coat of long, reddish-brown outer hairs and soft, dense, brown underfur. This warm, waterproof coat allows the beaver to swim in icy water in the wintertime without discomfort. Most of the beaver’s physical characteristics—the fur, toes, tail, ears, nose, and lips—are so constructed that the animal is well equipped for life in the water as well as on land.
