Do beavers live all over Sweden? How is the population, increasing, decreasing?
Frauke: Beavers can now be found in almost the entire country. However, in southern Sweden (e.g. Skåne, southern Småland) it is still sparse. The beaver tribe is not yet established there. The beaver is also missing in northwestern Sweden. However, it is probably only a matter of time until the beaver establishes itself there as well. The beaver population in the areas where it has been present since the early 2000s appears to be reasonably stable.
How long do the beavers use their den? Years? How old is the oldest hut?
Frauke: It is a lot of work to build a hut. If the prerequisite exists (e.g. there is food available) it can be many years (>10 years old). It is built on.
Beavers can do quite a lot of damage to the forest with their dams, but what good would you say a beaver does for life in the forest?
Frauke: Forest damage in Sweden is so far limited. It is in certain parts of the country where the damage can be extensive. Biggest win: Increased biodiversity! There is probably no other nature conservation measure that can contribute/create as much biodiversity as beaver dams.
What enemies does the beaver have?
Frauke: Natural enemies are mainly wolves, but also bears and wolverines. There are studies from Russia where it has been shown that the beaver only moves along a narrow strip along the shoreline in areas with wolves, while it “ventures” further into forests without wolves.
How do beavers live (eg in families, in larger communities or alone)?
Frauke: Beavers have large families in their den. It is only when the children of the second generation are born that the children of the first generation are allowed to look for their own accommodation.
You write Södra Småland about the establishment of Baver. I myself live in Blekinge right by the Lyckebyån, which starts up in Kosta and flows into Lyckeby. Is there any chance that the Beaver could establish itself here, because the conditions are very favorable right here.
Frauke: The prerequisites are there! The most important thing is that there are deciduous trees along the waterways/ditches. However, the beaver does not move through the forest to reach a new watercourse. It probably first swims downstream and then into a new watercourse, which may mean that it may have to swim a bit out along the Baltic Sea to enter a new watercourse further south.
Are there any beavers that have transmitters that you follow?
Frauke: Yes, in Europe in i.a. Norway. However, this is difficult. It is not possible to attach the transmitter to the neck (“missing” neck) and because beavers are so social they gnaw off each other’s transmitters. However, drilling small holes through the tail to attach transmitters seems to work.
Can you demolish a beaver hut? Is the beaver protected?
Frauke: The beaver is not protected like in many other European countries. It is permitted to hunt beaver throughout the country between October and May for those who have hunting rights. Beaver dams may be demolished, but certain rules apply and (depending on the season) permission from the county administrative board may be required. If you want to demolish, check with the county administrative board what applies.
Do beavers live in pairs?
Frauke: Beavers have quite large families where several generations live together.
Are beavers dangerous to humans or do they rather run than fence?
Frauke: As a rule, they are afraid of people. However, if you get too close, it can be dangerous. It’s not playing with their teeth. There have been a few accidents, but they are rare.
How long can a beaver stay under water?
Frauke: Up to approx. 8 minutes.
How big trees can a beaver cut down?
Frauke: There is probably no limit there. They must be deciduous trees (conifers are probably felled by “mistake”) and they must stand near the water.
Have you eaten beaver in the past?
Frauke: Yes! They still do that. In Sweden, however, we have almost forgotten how beavers are taken care of. Long-boiled beaver is good! Available to eat at a restaurant in e.g. Estonia.
Does the beaver belong to the natural Swedish fauna? If not, when was it imported/immigrated?
Frauke: The European beaver belongs to the natural Swedish fauna, even if it was extinct. Reintroduction during the 1920s. In i.a. However, the American beaver has been introduced to Finland and the European beaver reintroduced. So in Finland both species are found.
Are there many beavers in the area where DSÄ is broadcast from?
Frauke: Yes! There are plenty of beavers there. However, most beaver systems there are fairly short-lived. Due to lack of deciduous trees in the coastal zone, the beaver needs to look further for maybe max. 10 years. So there is a large turnover of beavers. The beaver may come back when the regrowth of hardwoods is good.
Why are beavers becoming more common in the sea? I know of 2 active beaver huts in my home districts of Ångermanland’s coast.
Frauke: Exciting! The beaver can definitely swim. If there are plenty of deciduous trees/bushes, it can also establish itself in the Archipelago.
Are beavers nocturnal? Have never looked at day walks but only late evenings/nights. Is it common for them to stay close to the center? Because it has happened that people have met them in the city park.
Frauke: It is most common to observe the beaver towards the end of the evening or around dawn. But the beaver is also diurnal. Have seen beaver many times during the day. They can get close to the center. In Uppsala, beavers were observed on “beaver alley”. However, it is unusual. Then the beaver is on its way somewhere and was perhaps disturbed. However, if there are plenty of apple trees in central areas, the beaver can probably also cut down some apple trees there.
What is the beaver’s biggest challenge right now?
Frauke: From the beaver’s perspective, the lack of hardwoods in the riparian zone is the biggest challenge. In that access to e.g. rough aspens are low in the woodland, so the beaver is blamed when it cuts down some large aspens that the white-backed woodpecker also wants to use. Another long-term challenge may be that the Swedish beaver population is highly inbred (today’s estimated 200,000 descend from a few individuals). The inbreeding doesn’t seem to have caused any problems yet, but not sure what it looks like in the long run, e.g. when there are some stupid judgments that can affect the beaver.
Glad you’re here. Beavers are among my favorites. Someone lives where I live but never seen it. How big territories does a beaver live in? I see fallen trees within 4 kilometers, saw a nest and wonder if it is a family or several.
Frauke: The beaver can move along large areas. 10 km upstream or downstream is probably no problem. They can do that to probe whether there might be suitable environments upstream/downstream. Or it could be an individual who has been rejected from the family and needs to find a home of his own.
You write large families, how many young are born in each litter. Do they have multiple litters each year?
Frauke: One litter per year with 2-3 young.
How can you tell the difference between a female beaver and a male beaver?
Frauke: You can’t tell the difference! They have no external gender characteristics.
How many beavers are there in Sweden, wonders Hanna, 8 years old, who is sick at home.
Frauke: A rough estimate is: 200,000. However, there are no exact figures.
What does the beaver do in the winter?
Frauke: You can see the beaver even in winter. There is always a hole in the water course so it can get out and into the water. Otherwise, it has its winter supply of twigs under water but not near the hut. And then it’s mating day in Jan-Feb.
Is there any predator that has the beaver on the menu?
Frauke: Wolf is probably the most important enemy, but also bear and wolverine.
Do beavers live in pairs for life?
Frauke: Yes, couples usually stick together.
How many cubs can a beaver have per year?
Frauke: 2-3 born in a litter per year.
How and when does the beaver sleep? Are they active at night? Saw a lot of tracks but never any beavers.
Frauke: Don’t actually know how many hours they sleep, but even if they are more active during the night, they are often also active during the day.
Is it common to have problems between beavers and hydropower?
Frauke: Hydropower is also a hint for the beaver. If they want to get upstream/downstream past a hydroelectric dam, they need to go on land, which means the risk of becoming e.g. overrun.
How close/far from other couples/families can the beaver thrive?
Frauke: This depends a lot on the conditions, e.g. how much deciduous trees are in the riparian zone. The sparser the deciduous trees there, the greater the distance between the beaver families.
What does the beaver eat?
Frauke: In summer there are a lot of water plants (missne is candy!). Wintertime mostly twigs from deciduous trees/shrubs which they drag into their winter storage under water when the hut. The twigs are harvested as long as they still have leaves.
The beaver seems to be a smart animal..but why gnaw almost all the way through a tree to also gnaw under or over as much..waste of energy.(I know they are waiting for the wind to fell the tree)?
Frauke: Sometimes it’s hard to understand what they’re doing. If it is young animals, it could also be because they are testing. Then it can also be to sharpen the teeth. And so there is still much we don’t know.
Can you tell us something unusual about beavers that you think people don’t know about?
Frauke: In the Middle Ages, beavers were classified as fish by the Catholic Church. Then you could eat beaver even during Lent.
What time of day is it easiest to see beavers?
Frauke: Towards the evening branch. But in principle you can come across beavers at any time of the day.
I saw an exception then when a beaver crossed a road. Where it came from had no stream or other watercourse nearby. Was very surprised by it. Nearest water in the direction it was going to was about 150 meters. It came from a lake that was 200 meters away.
Frauke: Maybe there were some small ditches nearby? It doesn’t have to be a body of water. However, 200 m sounds like a distance that beavers usually avoid walking on land.
Aren’t they shy of people? Here where I live, they gnaw on the trees after a footpath by the river, thus a danger for walkers.
Frauke: In the future, we will probably see more conflicts between wild animals (here beavers) and people. As long as the beavers feel safe, they will probably continue to try to cut down the trees. If the trees are to be preserved, you can put chicken netting around the trunks.
I have beavers near where I live and I see daily new tracks in the form of gnawed trees or muddy slide tracks. My question is which trees do the beaver choose to fell? Sometimes it’s sly and sometimes big trees with enormously strong trunks? It sheds a lot.
Frauke: My colleague Göran Hartman usually says that aspen is like candy for the beaver and birch is like potatoes. Also sales are very popular. In the last layer, it uses alder. Then it doesn’t matter if they are bushes or big trees. Beavers are now found in the High Arctic in Canada, where there are only small willow bushes. However, it is good enough should the beaver. However, it will be difficult to dam wider watercourses with only small twigs.
How far up in Sweden are the beavers??
Frauke: They are all the way up in Norrbotten, but missing in the northwest corner. However, something seems to be happening there right now, with a higher number of observations in mountain areas recently.
How are beavers affected by human-made water regulation? They don’t dam large bodies of water themselves, but I think that even smaller bodies of water can be affected by power plant dams with increases and decreases in the water level that are not completely natural.
Frauke: In larger watercourses there is no reason for the beaver to build any dams. If a watercourse is more than 1 m deep even during low tide, the beaver does not build dams. However, power plant dams are also a migration obstacle for the beaver, although it can get past by walking on land.
Are they starting a family with one or more partners?
Frauke: As far as I know a partner.
How old can a beaver get?
Frauke: Approx. 20-30 years.
What is the ecological importance of beavers and what role do they play in shaping aquatic ecosystems?
Frauke: It is not without reason that the beaver is called an ecosystem engineer and a key species! It has enormous importance for water ecosystems and the forest landscape.
What is the beaver’s relationship to the moose?
Frauke: The moose favors the beaver! When the beaver cuts down trees, areas are opened up where new deciduous trees grow, which the moose can then eat. This is much studied in Yellowstone.
Is there an obligation to report if you find a dead beaver?
Frauke: No. If it has not been hit, it is still worth contacting SVA.
