looduskalender.ee

The beaver, the largest European rodent, with a particularly durable, highly valued and costly coat, and – not unimportant – a game animal with tasty meat, disappeared from Estonia during the 19th century as a result of excessive hunting. Reestablishment took place during the first half of the 20th century from the east, and at the moment the population is somewhat less than 20 000 individuals.

During the whole autumn beavers have been busy day and night – there can never be too much winter stores. Now it is late autumn, temperature has fallen below +5º C, so the growing period of plants is at an end, and the time of ice cover on waters is not far away. Observing beavers during the first ice is really exciting – of course you must know where to do it. The ice cover obviously makes a big change in the life of beavers – the only way out is to crack the first ice cover with the head. To transport food for storing, open channels must be made: food is actively searched for until permanent frosts set in. The collected food stores are saved for real winter.