Beaver Den: Here's All Facts You Need To Know About Beaver's Home!

Aashita Dhingra
Oct 23, 2023 By Aashita Dhingra
Originally Published on Nov 05, 2021
Beaver sitting in a river.
Age: 3-18
Read time: 4.1 Min

Beavers’ powerful jaws and teeth allow these webbed feet creatures to strike down trees in order to build their home and dam.

Beavers are rodents that happen to be the largest among the whole rodent category. These semi-aquatic animals spend much of their time in the water.

There are two species of beavers: American beaver, and Eurasian beaver. All beavers need water to survive as they live in freshwater ponds, swamps, and lakes. Beavers can be seen building a dam to make ponds their favorite place to live. Not only do they build lodges from wood, but beavers also consume wood. Beavers, unlike other mammals, have the ability to digest cellulose which makes trees a significant part of their diet alongside aquatic animals. A beaver is a very social animal; they live in colonies. One lodge is home for a beaver couple and their younglings. The beaver den sheds are an important thing in its life. At one point in time, beavers were almost on the verge of extinction. After reading all about beavers, do check mountain beaver facts and Baltimore oriole migration.

What is a beaver's den called?

Beavers are one of the few mammals in nature that can modify their environment according to their own needs.

Whenever beavers decide to move into an area, they start off by building dams and modify the environment to a point where it is suitable for them to build lodges. Once the dam has been constructed by the beavers, the flooding due to the dam causes the timber to rot, and that is accompanied by the growth of aquatic vegetation. For beaver’s, a den is a lodge or bank den, and where they choose to live depends on the situation they are in. The log used in the building of the den can vary in size; it can range from 6-10 ft (1.8-3 m) which again comes down to the number of beavers present in the colony. A beaver might sometimes dig a burrow for the banks of the pond, river, or drainage ditch. Mostly, all the entrances to a beaver’s den or lodge are located under the water.

What does the inside of a beaver den look like?

Inside a beaver den, things are in place with a pattern of uniformity.

When a beaver’s den is entered, you can find the den linked with barks, grass, and wood chips which are soft in nature. The beaver lodge features a  single room that is used for the purposes of nursing, raising young ones and protection. The lodge or den is rebuilt and repaired by a beaver. A beaver does not hibernate and requires a constant source of food throughout the winter season. For this reason, the lodge of the beaver has a chamber for resting and sleeping purposes which can also be accessed by the entrances which are under the water.

Close up view of beaver lodge.

What is a beaver den made of?

The reason why beavers are indulged in building dams is to have a safe pond where they can make their lodges.

A beaver lodge features materials such as twigs, rods, sticks, mud, rock with under the water entries.  Beavers cannot live on land or make houses on it as beavers have short legs, which makes their movement troublesome on land. The outside of the beaver's lodges features materials such as branches and logs, which are held together by mud. Dens that have been built into the main riverbanks simply start with holes one to four feet (0.3-1.2 m) below the actual waterline. A simple mud and stick lodge is one which is built-in water.

How to find a beaver den?

Beavers are quite smart when building their lodges; they have to avoid predators who can be a real threat to them.

Beavers are mainly building their den around water sources. You can begin your search around these water sources such as lakes, ponds, wetlands, and swamps as sometimes beavers make an entrance from the riverbank other than the main entrance to their lodges which is under the water. Beaver den ark can be found under the water. If you see signs of wood chips in the area, that means the beavers are nearby and the lodge they are living in is probably near as well. However, this construction of dams by beavers goes against the economic interests of humans. A beaver den or lodge is something that the majority of the animals cannot make for themselves, and that makes the beaver lodges really unique! Beavers keep themselves incredibly busy at night and can cut down a tree in five minutes.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Beaver Den: Here's All Facts You To Need To Know About Beaver's Home! Then why not take a look at Chicken Wattle And Combs Simplified: Curious Rooster Facts For Kids, or Chicken Life Cycle: Amaze-wing Facts From Egg To Adult Chick Explained.

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Written by Aashita Dhingra

Bachelors in Business Administration

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Aashita DhingraBachelors in Business Administration

Based in Lucknow, India, Aashita is a skilled content creator with experience crafting study guides for high school-aged kids. Her education includes a degree in Business Administration from St. Mary's Convent Inter College, which she leverages to bring a unique perspective to her work. Aashita's passion for writing and education is evident in her ability to craft engaging content.

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