Sources of Curiosity
Questions from March 3 walk
Do Beavers Hibernate?
Beavers do not hibernate. They lack the biological ability to hibernate, so they will stay active all winter. Beavers employ several different strategies to survive the winter:
Beavers build large, insulated lodges that allow them stay warm and dry above the level of the water and sheltered from the snow and ice outside. The entrance to the lodge is underwater, allowing the beaver to come and go even under thick ice. A beaver lodge has a ventilation hole at the top to keep the air inside the lodge fresh. Inside the lodge, beavers will huddle together to keep warm.
Beavers will build food caches both inside the lodge and near the lodge, but accessible by swimming under the ice. Beavers may eat up to two pounds of food each day through the winter, so a good food cache is important to their winter survival.
When weather and ice conditions permit, beavers will continue to forage for food through the winter and as soon as ice starts to soften up in the spring.
Here is a collection of articles and videos that show beaver behavior in winter and inside their lodge:
What happens to beavers in winter
