Habits and Distribution
Mountain beavers are found in the coastal mountains of British Columbia and southward to include the Cascades Mountain ranges, the Siskiyous, Sierra Nevada mountain range of California within North America. They range from sea level to the tree line. They can be found in both deciduous and coniferous forests, but throughout most of the range appear to prefer the former. These animals appear to be physiologically limited to moist microenvironments, with most subspecies occurring only in regions with minimal snowfall and cool winters. They do not appear to be able to conserve body heat or warmth as efficiently as other rodents. They do not hibernate.
Mountain beavers build elaborate burrow systems with chambers devoted to fecal and food caches. They exhibit coprophagy and eat soft fecal pellets to obtain maximum nutrients. Hard fecal pellets are transferred to fecal chambers using their incisors. Food includes fleshy herbs and young shoots of more woody plants. Ferns probably make up the bulk of the diet. They appear to be strictly vegetarian. Their consumption of seedling trees has led some to consider them a pest. They appear to build hay mounds at some burrow entrances, but whether this behavior is related to water regulation, curing food, or gathering nest materials is debated.
A host of other animals have been documented within the burrow system of mountain beavers, including weasels, American badgers, raccoons, mice, gophers, voles, and even salamanders. Because of their effect on such a wide variety of plants and animals, some ecologists consider Mountain Beavers to be a keystone species.
Known predators include bobcats, coyotes, cougars, golden eagles, and owls. Among the parasites of the mountain beaver is the largest flea known to modern science, Hystrichopsylla schefferi. Females of this flea can be 8 mm (0.31 in) long.
The breeding season is between January–March with 2-3 young born February–April. The young are born hairless, pink, and blind. Longevity is 5–10 years, fairly long as rodents go. They are not social, though home ranges can overlap.
Mountain beavers are capable of climbing trees, but rarely travel far from burrows. The thumb is slightly opposable and the animals will sit on their hindquarters and manipulate food with their forelimbs and incisors.
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