Beaver Damage

This weekend I was with my family at Shawnee Mission Park in Lenexa, KS. We enjoy biking and hiking at this park when we can. We came across this beaver damage on two hackberry trees near a stream and river that run through the park. I thought it was neat. The beaver used its large teeth around the circumference of the trunk of the tree. When there was not enough wood left to support the tree, it fell over. You can see where the inner bark was stretched and beginning to tear.

I do not know much about beavers, so I googled it. I found it interesting that beavers are the second largest rodent in the world. They are active mainly at night and slap their tail on the water surface to signal danger to other beavers. Their homes (lodges) are constructed out of sticks, twigs and mud in lakes and streams and they build dams using deciduous wood.