It has come to my attention that in my stories I mention animals and such and some of the readers of this material don’t quite know just what it is that I’m talking about.  You know who you are.

For instance, the case in point is what is the difference between a “beaver” and a “wood chuck”?  Of course a quick glance through the electronic world we live in would quickly show you the difference in how both animals look, what their scientific names are, where they inhabit the world, what they eat, how many and how often they have offspring, the color of their fur, the type of feet they have, both front and rear, the size of their tails (if they have one) and any coloration differences there might be between male and females of the same species.  AND a myriad of other differences and similarities between the animals in question.

BUT…I can tell you straight out what the differences are, without your having to consult the vastness of the internet, all you have to do is make a comment on my posting and I will quickly respond to your inquiry.  My explanation will be quick and to the point.  And I will never make you feel uncomfortable about your asking.  It is my nature to not embarrass people too bad (check out my dear aunt Lenora’s posting).  Of course I might throw in bits and pieces of humor along the way, but it is all meant in good fun.

OK.  So, just what is the difference between a “Beaver” and a “Wood Chuck”?

Beaver:  A water loving creature that survives by chewing the bark off of live trees.  Barkuschewus, as some refer to them as.  Beaver can weight up to 60 plus pounds.  They have very muscular bodies, short legs and the rear feet are webbed, much like that of a duck.  The webbed feed enable the animal to swim quickly and for long distances under water, or lazily along the surface at a slow pace.  The front feet work closely with the mouth of the animal as they transport tree limbs to the beavers dam.  They commonly have short fur in the summer time, and it grows thicker as the water and air temperatures drop to freezing temps in the Fall and Winter.   As the fur thickens up, longer hair grows beyond the thick fur to allow the animals thick fur not to mat up.  These longer hairs are called “guard hair”.  The animal can groom these guard hairs with oils from its own oil glands in order to give the animals fur a water repellency.  After all these animals can not survive for too long a period outside of water ways and they need the water repellency to repel the water once they come out of it.

In winter conditions the water ways that beaver normally inhabit will freeze over, producing a thick layer  that the animal can not penetrate up through.  This is more often the case than not and so the animal has a built in seasonal habit to store food inside the waterway and under the surface of the water.  Beaver will crawl out onto the bank of the river or stream and will cut down trees that often have diameters exceeding 10 inches.  These trees are then trimmed of their upper branches and the branches are pulled into the water by the beaver.  Beaver have been known to carry tree branches as far as ¼ mile from the water.

These branches are used to build the beaver’s home, which has a large diameter base, under water and progressively gets smaller as the beaver builds it up.  When we see a beavers house sticking out of the water, we are generally seeing less than 1/3^rd of it’s total size.  The beaver makes at least two entry points to allow access during the times when the water is frozen on the top of the pond.  One entry is right on the bottom of the beavers house, and another somewhere near mid level.  Other entries may be higher or lower.

Branches are also used to build dams across streams in order to back up the water and form a pond.  Beaver will place sticks across the waterway in such a fashion as to stop or slow the flow of the water.  Then using their back feet and the webs to kick up mud, rocks and debris up and against the sticks just placed.  They continue to place sticks and kick mud until the dam they are building  has a water depth that meets their expected winters frozen cap of ice.

Branches are stuck in and around the pond with the largest ends of the branches stuck down into the mud sufficiently to keep the branch in place and not float around.  Beaver are very resourceful and they keep busy, well, as a beaver.   What else do they have to do?

When winter comes and the pond freezes over, the beaver is warmly tucked away inside it’s comfy home.  When it get hungry, it dives and swims out one of the entry holes and over to a waiting branch, where it chews the bark off of it, leaving just a barren stick.  If the beaver did its pre-winter work well enough it will have plenty of food to survive until spring when the ice melts off the waters surface.

Ah, the beautiful beaver.  What value does his tail serve?  They use the flat tail for two purposes.  One to warn other beavers of danger by slapping it hard down on the surface of the water.  This is useless during winter and would only serve to sting the beaver should it slap the tail down on the frozen ice.  The second purpose is to help steer the beaver while it is swimming.  Hold your flattened hand outside the window of your car and move it around in the air as you drive along.  That is much the same way the beaver uses its tail to change its direction while swimming.

In order for a beaver to do all that chewing, they need teeth equipped well enough to get that job done.  The front, upper teeth of a beaver are about 3 inches long and up to ½ inch wide.  The lower front two teeth are about ½ the size of the upper teeth.  All four teeth are extremely sharp and shaped just like our wood chisels.  It was the design God gave the beavers teeth that man copied from in the making of our wood chisels.  The beaver keeps its teeth sharp by chewing on trees.  The chewing action causes the teeth to wear off with each bite, maintaining the length of the teeth and  at the same time keeping its shape on the edge.

A beaver can fall a tree with a 5 inch diameter in less than 2 minutes of chewing.  They begin at a point on the tree a few inches off the ground and they keep chewing in a circle around the tree until the chewing looks like the pointed ends of two ice cream cones being held together.  At some point the top of the tree can not be supported by the small base and the tree falls over.

On farms with beaver issues you will find highly irate owners with downed trees across road ways, fences and animal paths.  Water flooding pastures and farmed ground.  Owners of property that has the potential for beaver problems all own a variety of guns, traps, snares, boats and people of military experience with access to hand grenades.  Most owners also have hidden somewhere near a cache of dynamite and equipment used to detonate it.  Beaver to these owners are a pest only good for resale value and they believe in all their heart that all beaver should be destroyed and only read about in history books.   Beavers sole purpose in life is meant as target practice to these owners.  On the back bumper of most owners pickup trucks reads a decal saying: “ The Only Good Beaver is a Dead Beaver” , “Save a Tree, Eat a Beaver”,  “The Only Beaver I Like Sleeps Next to Me” or some such other statement.

Wood Chuck

HMMMMMMMM.  Wood Chuck likes wood like a beaver likes the desert.  How in the world it got the name stems from the proximity of its ground hole home to a pile of wood that had been created when the farmer cleared some ground for planting his crops.  Wood Chucks eat roots from plants growing above them as they crawl through under ground tunnels they created.   It’s the tunnel thing too that God decided a Wood Chuck should have a very short tail.  Can you imagine a Wood Chuck trying to turn around in a tunnel if he had a long fuzzy tail?  He might just get himself stuck half way around.   Wood Chuck fur is course, usually brown and mottled and no woman in her right mind would ever think about wearing around her neck.

Wood Chucks do not stock pile food for their winter captivity under piles of snow.  Wood Chucks hibernate and come out once the ground has thawed and the spring sun is beginning to warm the air.  Ever hear about Ponxatony Phil?  He is just a Wood Chuck by another name.

Actually about the only similarity between a Wood Chuck and a Beaver is they both have 4 legs and feet, two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth, a way to defecate and urinate,  a strong desire to mate and buck teeth.

On farms with Wood Chuck issues you will find highly irate owners with holes and tunnels in and across road ways, under fences and in animal paths.   Owners of property that has the potential for Wood Chuck problems all own a variety of guns, traps, snares,  and people of military experience with access to hand grenades.  Most owners also have hidden somewhere near a cache of dynamite and equipment used to detonate it.     A Wood Chucks sole purpose in life is meant as target practice to these owners.  There are specially made rifles and shells on the market today because shooting Wood Chucks and similar critters has become such a popular sport.  On the back bumper of most owners pickup trucks reads a decal saying: “ The Only Good Wood Chuck is a Dead Wood Chuck” , “Save a Horse a Broken Leg, Shoot a Wood Chuck”,  “I Like Your Wife, She Reminds Me of a Wood Chuck” or some such other statement.

There you have it:  Beaver = Water/ Wood Chuck = Ground Hog

So, next February 2^nd, don’t think of Ponxatany Phill as a Ground Hog, think of him as a Beaver.  It will brang a big ol smile to yur face, cuz now you knowed the differnce.

Bears Butt

July 2011