Beavers

The mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa, family Aplodontidae) occurs in the Cascade Mountains from east-central California north through Oregon and Washington to southwestern British Columbia. Other than being a large rodent, the mountain beaver is not particularly closely related to the true beavers, which are in the family Castoridae. In fact, mountain beavers are the only species in their family, and they not closely related to any other rodents. Because of their ancient evolutionary history, mountain beavers are sometimes considered to be living fossils. In body form, the mountain beaver looks like a tailless muskrat or large vole, with small ears, short legs, and grizzled, brownish fur. Mountain beavers are terrestrial animals, digging long, complex burrows in moist, workable soil near streams, with numerous entrances and exits located in concealed places. These animals live in loose colonies, but they are not very social animals, preferring to avoid frequent, direct contact with each other. Mountain beavers eat a wide range of plant foods, including herbaceous plants and fruits, young twigs of woody plants, and conifer foliage and shoots in the wintertime. Mountain beavers store food for the winter in underground haystacks.