Postcards from Nancy.... By Cara Bierschwale

Texas Wildlife Association presents....
September 2014
Kid’s Quarterly Mini-Mag!
Vol. 8 No. 3
Postcards from Nancy....
Hello, friends!
To beat the late summer heat, Grant the Gopher and I
traveled to Eisenhower State Park to enjoy the cool, fresh waters
of Lake Texoma. This park is located north of Dallas and sits on
hiking the scenic trails along the lake shores and swimming, Grant
and I relaxed in a quiet, wooded place next
to a stream which fed into the lake. Little
did we know, we picked the perfect spot to
also observe one of nature’s most interesting
engineers.
"
on some crunchy grasshopper cookies when
we heard some other “chewing” noises
upstream. Suddenly, the calming sound of
the trickling stream was shattered by a loud
#$%$
I jumped a foot off the ground and Grant
spit out his cookie! When we both looked
and bumping the banks along the way.
We continued to watch as the log eventually trapped itself in a
narrow part of the stream next to our campground.
“Some log… isn’t it?” whistled a large, round hunk of fur
waddling slowly toward us. I looked at him and thought, “Now
"&'
inspect the lodged log.
“Sure is,” replied Grant hesitantly. “It’s a nice piece of, uh,
""
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“Yes… yes,” replied the big-toothed stranger. “That there is
the… start to my… new estate. I’m Sheldon Beaver, by the way.
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By Cara Bierschwale
at the way Sheldon whistled through his large front teeth each
time he spoke.
“Yes, we are,” I answered. “I’m Nancy and this is Grant. It’s
nice to meet you. Now, what exactly are you trying to build?”
"
"("(
"
Sheldon said, “Basically, this here log, along with other sticks
and so forth… will pile up here to stop this…
"( behind it, I can construct my… secret house
& of the… resources I require at my… watery
disposal.”
“So, you’re going to build a wooden
home in the water?” questioned Grant.
0
( 1 the lake, rather - if it breaks loose or the
*'
“If a catastrophe does strike,” replied
Photo by Wikipedia
Sheldon, “I’ll just… start over again in this…
special spot.”
By the time Sheldon Beaver’s dam was completed and he
began building his lodge, it was time to return home. Perhaps
we’ll be able to see it the next time we visit!
Until next time,
Nancy Nine-band
Critter Connections is made
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San Antonio Livestock
Exposition.
J o i n T WA T od a y!
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Last year, we provided programming for over 194,000 youth across the state through Distance Learning, Discovery Trunks,
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we may help you incorporate wildlife and natural resources into your classroom!
Most programs are free for teachers.
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Membership Levels:
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Photo by Cara Bierschwale
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Like humans, beavers have the ability to make changes to their environment to meet their
needs. Water is a very important resource for all living things, and beavers are able to manage
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Extension: This activity can be conducted on a larger scale by using a water play table, larger rocks, grass, leaves, sticks and small
branches. Play-doh can be used to simulate mud.
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word searches......
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Y M A
D Q A
Z P G
G R T
H L W
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Q D B Y C K F V
M D I P I W R P
R T F G T Z T B
S G Z I A R I N
V T E V U U J A
G F R R Q D H E
Y Q E U A C E T
N U T B C H A B
A W E Q E T I K
X R Y U Z A I Y
N O R N L R V O
C D S D L W O E
Y E H E D H C S
S N V R D R F B
N T B W K H A U
D R S A B C W R
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the words listed below.
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GROOM
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LODGE
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Chew On This!
The beaver’s anatomy and behavior is well-adapted to performing the many skills and tasks required for the
transformation of the semi-aquatic landscape and survival. Compare the following beaver adaptations to
examples of man-made objects used to perform the same kind of task. Draw a line to correctly match each
adaptation with the similar object.
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2. Webbed hind feet
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B. Rudder wheel
A
4. Large, ever-growing,
chisel-like teeth
D. Vice grips
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6. Valves in ears and nose
F. Ear plugs
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8. Hand-like front feet
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
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H. Pipe wrench
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give it a try!
puzzles.....mazes.....oh my! go ahead.....
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Busy
Builders
By Cara Bierschwale
Photo by animalphotos.info.org
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color, landscaping features, and other ways to decorate his home. What is
most important, though, is that the structure of the house is strong, stable, and
protective. If not, the home would be unsafe to inhabit.
Just like us, many animals strive to build strong, well-designed homes and
habitats that will hide them and their offspring from predators, provide shelter
from bad weather, and be a safe place to eat, rest, and reproduce. If we had to
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These builders are the project manager, architect, site developer, lumberjack,
and carpenter of their own domains. In addition to constructing advanced
structures, beavers have the
ability to manipulate and
+ to the environment to meet
their needs, second only to
humans. For this reason,
beavers are considered by
many to be both talented
and troublesome in some
areas.
Beavers are the second
largest member of the
world’s rodent order, which
Lodge by Grady Allen
ner
or more are occasionally caught.
Including their tails, beavers can
grow to a length of around four
and a half feet. Like most other
rodents, they possess long whiskers,
strong jaws, and a set of four large,
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which grow continuously. These
teeth are eroded and kept sharp by
Photo from Wikimedia
their constant gnawing through tree
trunks and branches.
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is the same fur as on the body, but there are
only a few short, bristly hairs scattered around
& % ! # water, a beaver will use its tail to push its body
under. Once submerged, the beaver will rarely
use its tail for actual swimming, but can “steer”
by changing the tail’s position. In addition, if
it senses danger or an emergency, a beaver
will slap its heavy tails against the water just
before diving. The loud smack is believed to
warn others and scare predators. On dry land,
especially while cutting down trees, grooming,
Photo by Russell Graves
and performing various tasks, a beaver will use
its tail as a prop to sit and stay up.
!)
far south as northern Mexico. In Texas, the largest populations are found
in the northeastern part of the state. Because water is essential to beaver
life, they live near streams, lakes, and wooded rivers. They are clumsy and
awkward on dry land, but well-adapted to semi-aquatic environments.
Their large, webbed hind feet provide powerful strokes which thrust
them forward through the water. They also have a third, transparent
% ! * & *
water from reaching the beaver’s skin and helps to maintain a warm
body temperature.
The beavers’ blueprint for building follows a series of steps which
would lead to the construction of an all-inclusive “estate.” In general, a
+
!
!!
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the beaver has a mate, the pair will
begin building a dam on the stream
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water within two or three days. This
way, the water will gradually back up
behind the dam and create a larger
and deeper area of water in which the
beavers will construct their lake lodge
or burrow. The surrounding water will
Beaver pond by USFWS
continue to provide resources, as well
as safety from predators, for as long as the
beavers stay and “maintain” the dam.
Construction of a dam is considered by
many to be the result of intelligent engineering
and continual hard work by beavers. They will
use whatever building materials are available
to them, like trees, rocks, mud, grass, leaves,
and twigs. Tree trunks and branches from
land and water are gnawed until broken
! & Photo by Grady Allen
dragged to dam site in the beavers’ strong
jaws. The sticks and limbs are then wedged in the muddy or rocky stream
+
&!
&!
Once the dammed area has reached a suitable
Beaver dam by USFWS
depth, the beavers will construct their lodge either
partially or completely surrounded by water. Like
dams, lodges are built from wood, rock, mud, and
debris. Channels are dug out and each lodge will have
one or two underwater access tunnels to keep out
* % ! pair is about one and a half to two feet tall and three
!!%
they may expand their lodge to include extra walls
and chambers with their own tunnels. Each chamber
includes separate spaces for eating and for sleeping.
Their diet consists of the leaves, twigs, and bark of riverbank trees and water
plants and they sleep on soft beds made of shredded wood. Typically, females
!!
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Depending on the location, there are differing opinions of whether beavers
are constructive to the land or destructive. In areas near humans, their activity
to persistently maintain large areas of water can result in damage such as levees
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erosion of pastureland and roadways due to dammed
creeks and drainage ditches, blocked culverts, and
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helping to create or restore natural habitats for other
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silt collected in standing beaver ponds and old dams
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many human-wildlife interaction issues, efforts are
made to control local beaver populations when their
Photo by USFWS
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land and urban structures.
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Texas Wildlife Damage Management Service. “Controlling Beaver Damage.” Web. 06 July 2014.
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Photo by USFWS
Did you know...
their fur for swimming without drag, as well as for scent marking their territory. Humans have also used this oil to
make perfumes!
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travel as far as half a mile underwater.
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These skin folds also keep sharp splinters out of the mouth while it gnaws on wood.
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2,800 feet, has been worked on by several generations of beavers since the mid-1970s, and is believed to still be
growing.
“Chew on This!” Answers: 1(B), 2(G), 3(A), 4(C),
5(E), 6(F), 7(H), 8(D)
Photo by animalphotos.info
Color Me
Small, dark eyes
Small, round ears
Large, rounded
body covered
with thick, dark
brown fur
Large,
continually
growing
teeth
Photo by USFWS
678'
clawed hands
Lighter belly fur
Black,
scaled tail
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Beaver
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clawed feet
6
Image adapted from mntrappers.org
Texas Wildlife Association
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professional rodeos in the world. You may also know we have one of the world’s largest
junior livestock shows and that we support agriculture and education to develop the youth
of Texas. But did you know that we encourage responsible management and the use of our
beautiful Texas wildlife and natural resources through the Texas Wildlife Expo? Through
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