Castor Canadensis Trivia Quiz

Answer: Northern beaver

Castor canadensis was first described scientifically by Heinrich Kuhl in his 1820 publication "Beiträge zur Zoologie und vergleichenden Anatomie", which translates as "Contributions to Zoology and Comparative Anatomy". Of course, the beaver was already well-known prior to 1820 and it was the cornerstone of the North American fur trade during colonial times.

Answer: False

The prize for being the largest rodent goes to the capybara of South America.

But second place standing goes to the beaver. But it's kind of a tie between the two extant species of beaver. The European beaver (Castor fiber) has a slightly larger average size than its New World counterpart, but the North American beaver has been documented to have the largest maximum size of the two.

Answer: Gills

The beaver is an amazing! Not only does it have the webbed hind feet for swimming, it also has the flat, paddle-shaped tail to assist. Nicitating membranes protect the eyes to see underwater, and the ears and nostrils seal up while underwater, as well. Beavers can also seal their lips *behind* their front teeth, allowing them to continue their gnawing underwater, as needed. And, to help with the colder climes of the underwater world, beavers have a thick layer of fat to help with insulation.

Answer: Castoreum

Adult beavers have a pair of 'castor sacs' in their genital area that contain castoreum, with which beavers will waterproof their double coat. It is also combined with their urine to use as a territorial scent marker.

Castoreum has also been used in the perfume industry and as a food additive. In Sweden, there is a type of schnapps, that uses castoreum, called 'Bäverhojt', which translates as 'beaver shout'.

Answer: Herbivorous

You might think that with all that time spent in the water as a semiaquatic critter that beavers would enjoy fish as a light snack, but they are strictly herbivores. They will eat herbaceous (greenery) and woody (wood, bark, twigs) plants, with their favourites being aspens and poplars.

As rodents, their incisors grow continuously, so their woody diet is very good in helping with the gnawing needed to keep wearing the teeth down.

Answer: Lodge

Beavers are also famous for building dams, but they only need to build dams to ensure that the water level remains deep enough for the underwater entrances to their lodges to remain ice-free during the winter. For this, the water must be at least 60 to 90 cm (two to three feet) deep.

When dams are built, they increase the overall wetlands area, greatly affecting the types and amount of flora and fauna in a given region.

One other type of 'structure' that is created by beavers in the course of their busywork is the canal. By dragging logs along the ground, they begin to create grooves that they then widen by digging out and deepening to the point that they hold water and are able to float logs along them instead of just dragging all the time.

Answer: 100,000

Considering the whole of North America, the estimated population before the fur trade was around 200 million. Since the end of the fur trade and with efforts to reestablish the species, today's estimates put the beaver population between 10 and 15 million.

The effects of the near-extirpation extended beyond the beaver population, as ecosystems and wetland regions were also devastated without this keystone species present to help preserve them.

Answer: Kits

While beaver young are called kits, there is no separate name to differentiate male from female adult beavers (apart from saying male and female, that is). In a lodge, a family of beavers is typically between five or six, but can be up to eleven or twelve, depending on the breeding cycle.

Kits stay with their parents for about two years before they are ready to move out on their own. While they can exhibit adult beaver behaviour prior to that two-year mark, the kits typically take that long to learn the requisite construction skills to manage on their own.

Answer: Alligators

While an alligator would happily snack on a tasty beaver, their habitats only minimally coincide, thus alligators are not *common* predators of beavers.

In addition to the main suspects of wolves, coyotes and mountain lions, sometimes bears will also take a beaver if the opportunity arises. Some smaller predators will also take advantage when they can, although typically of the smaller kits or sick or injured adults. These include foxes, bobcats, lynx, and even eagles.

Answer: 1937

Although nickels in Canada have been minted since 1858, they originally had crossed maple boughs (1858-1921), then two maple leaves (1922-36) before adopting the beaver, using the design created by G.E. Kruger-Gray.

Since 1937, there were only three times during the remainder of the 20th century that another symbol graced the nickel: 1943-45 (the Victory symbol); 1951 (a nickel refinery, commemorating the discovery of the element in 1751); and 1967 (a rabbit, part of a special set of coins for Canada's centennial).

All that to say, the first coins related to beavers in Canada were THE FIRST Canadian coins, which were tokens for the Hudson Bay Company, given the value of one beaver pelt, and called a 'buck'.