Angry Beaver slapping tail at Trinity River Wetlands Dallas Texas

Beaver slapping tail at Trinity River Wetlands at Miller's Ferry on the Trinity River, Dallas, Texas November 6, 2011. These beavers live literally between I-45 and old Central Expressway in the heart of Dallas. As the camera pans out you will see the freeways. Like many animals in the Great Trinity Forest, this beaver pair have little fear of humans, since they never see them. The beaver at the beginning of the video is completing a monster tail slap attempting to scare me away or lure me away from its lodge. I have seen angry beavers in Colorado too, high up in wilderness areas away from people. Interesting to see such behavior in an urban area.

This beaver is the largest rodent in North America and the third largest rodent in the world, after the South American capybara and the Eurasian beaver. Adults usually weigh 15 to 35 kg (33 to 77 lb), with 20 kg (44 lb) a typical mass, and measure around 1 m (3.3 ft) in total body length. Very old individuals can weigh as much as 45 kg (99 lb).

Like the capybara, the beaver is semi-aquatic. The beaver has many traits suited to this lifestyle. It has a large flat paddle-shaped tail and large, webbed hind feet reminiscent of a human diver's swimfins. The unwebbed front paws are smaller, with claws. The eyes are covered by a nictitating membrane which allows the beaver to see underwater. The nostrils and ears are sealed while submerged. A thick layer of fat under its skin insulates the beaver from its cold water environment.

The beaver's fur consists of long, coarse outer hairs and short, fine inner hairs (see Double coat). The fur has a range of colors but usually is dark brown. Scent glands near the genitals secrete an oily substance known as castoreum, which the beaver uses to waterproof its fur.

Before their near extinction by trapping in North America, beaver were practically ubiquitous and lived from the arctic tundra to the deserts of northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• beaver
• trinity river
• dallas
• texas
• north american beaver
• tail slap
• slapping
• great trinity forest
• miller's ferry
• trinity floodway
• joppa
• freedman's community
• nutria
• muskrat
• mink
• canoeing
• beaver lodge
• willow trees
• txdot
• angry beaver
• mean beaver
• wild animals
• water animals
• swimming
• aquatic animals
• Castor canadensis

[refidnasb1]

@tomasbermea

Yes, not only beavers but river otters too.

[tomasbermea]

wow i had no idea there were beavers in the trinity river. it seems too polluted to have such life. all the more reason to protect the environment