Beavers are rodents and rodents are typically good climbers. Mice and groundhogs are very skilled when it comes to climbing trees, walls, and fences. However, beavers are a completely different story. While beavers a capable of doing a lot, climbing and jumping are not on that list.
Do you find yourself wondering if beavers climb or jump? You’ve come to the right page. Today, we’re going to discuss what you should know about a beaver’s ability to climb and jump.
Do Beavers Climb or Jump?
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You will not catch a beaver climbing or jumping. If you live in an area where beavers are common, you may want to find ways to keep them off of your property because they are known to dig tunnels, which can cause damage. And as you probably know, beavers also have an affinity for cutting down trees and building dams, which might not be something you want to happen on your land.
Keeping a beaver off of your property is easy to do with a small fence.
Many homeowners have had success keeping beavers away with a fence that’s only 24 to 30 inches high. While this may not seem high enough to keep a pesky critter away, beavers aren’t able to get over it.
Are Beavers Good At Climbing?
As you can imagine by now, beavers are not good at climbing. Beavers excel in the water but are not as agile on land. This is why they aren’t able to climb as well as other rodent species. Their back legs are very short, so they don’t get much speed from them and they have terrible vision.
Since beavers don’t have good vision, it creates a problem for making their next move while climbing. They can not see far enough ahead to know where they should grasp for the best way to climb.
Can Beavers Jump?
A beaver isn’t able to push its hind legs off the ground far enough to jump. While the animal may be able to do small shuffles or hops, they aren’t able to spring in the air or jump over obstacles.
At most, you may see the beaver hop into the water, making it appear as though it jumped.
Beavers do better in water than on land, and there is no reason for the beaver to jump. A unique fact about beavers is that they have webbed feet on their back legs and their front legs have paws that resemble hands with sharp claws.
Why Beavers Aren’t Good at Jumping or Climbing
To understand why you won’t see a beaver jumping or climbing, you need to understand why they can’t. As mentioned above, the structure of the beaver’s hind legs prevents it from being good at jumping and climbing. However, the legs aren’t the only reason these critters don’t climb or jump.
If you were to take a look at a beaver’s body, you will notice that the majority of its weight is towards the bottom of its body. They are very bottom-heavy, which makes it difficult to get up a tree or fence. Beavers aren’t light either, as most beavers are in a weight range of 24 to 70 lbs. A lot of that weight sits in their bottom end.
A beaver’s upper body isn’t strong enough to haul its lower body for long. These animals aren’t keen on putting a lot of effort into their movements.
Webbed Feet Make Climbing Difficult
They also have webbed-like feet on their back legs, which makes it easier for the beaver to move around in the water. Beavers are used to moving around in the water, where their weight won’t slow them down.
Webbed feet also present a lot of challenges for climbing. While a beaver can sink its sharp claw from its front paws into a tree, it will not be able to grasp onto branches with its back legs. The front legs simply don’t have the strength to do all the work.
Can Beavers Climb Anything?
You won’t see a beaver climbing a tree or fence, but that doesn’t mean that are 100 percent incapable of climbing. Beavers can climb short distances, only a few feet above ground to get what they need. The main reason you will sport a beaver attempting a climb is to get at a plant that it wants to eat.
In this situation, you could spot a beaver climbing stairs, ladders, or even the openings to drainage. Beavers can also climb small piles to get what they want. If there is a pile of wood, bricks, or debris, a beaver may be able to work its way up to the top.
Many Barriers Will Keep Beavers Out
When a beaver starts to dig holes and canals on your property, it can make quite a mess and cause damage. For this reason, if you live near water, you will need to create a barrier. One of the best ways to keep beavers out is by creating a seawall or barrier that is at least 2 feet above the lake’s bottom.
