Autumn came, and beavers of the Prioksko-Terrasny reserve started an intensive dam building.
Beavers are known as real sloggers. These amazing semi-aquatic rodents are able to construct dams. Their engineering activity is complex and diverse.
In the Prioksko-Terrasny reserve beavers settle mainly in rivers Tadenka and Ponikovka. However, due to the abnormally dry August, rivers almost completely dried up, and the entrances to the beaver lodges and burrows drained. Beavers’ home entrances always have to be under the water to protect their owners from predators. To maintain the water at the proper level, beavers started to build new dams and renovate old ones.
– In September, beavers often begin to move. Grownup individuals leave their family. To survive on such a shallow river as Tadenka, beavers have to construct the dam constantly. Without dams some parts of the river are so shallow that beavers can’t swim freely and ensure security of their home. First of all, life in the new location begins with the construction of beaver dam, – says the deputy director of the Prioksko-Terrasny reserve for research Yuri Buyvolov. – For many years the life of beavers in the reserve is studied by zoologist Sergey Albov, PhD in biology. In 2012, the results of S. A. Albov and his colleagues researches were summarized in the collective monograph titled “The European Beaver (Castor fiber L.) as a Key Form of the Small River Ecosystem”. The monograph is available on the website library.
This week Sergey Albov will present the results of his observations to the scientific community. From 14 to 17 September in the Voronezh Biosphere Reserve the 7th International Beaver Symposium will take place and bring together more than 80 experts from 19 countries.