1. There is a rodent whose qualities as a builder are remarquable : it is the inventive beaver. What makes the beaver so nice to us, is that its behavior is similar in many aspects to ours. The beaver is the second largest rodent in the world. No animal has such a considerable influence also on his environment than he has. The beaver has adapted to many habitats. Today, there are two species: the European beaver (Castor fiber) and the North American beaver (Castor canadensis). Beavers

2. Male or female, the beaver is monogamous. Its social structure is composed of small family units, housed in huts or dens. These family are composed of the couple and the children and the offspring of the previous year. The beaver is close to human beings

3. Like us, the beaver has a sophisticated mode of communication sophisticated. Some Indian tribes have called this rodent "little brothers talking." The nickname refers to the vast repertoire of sounds that this very talkarve animal use: shouts, sighs, complaints, moans, murmurs ... Their language is very rich and includes emissions of smells, sounds, produced by the flapping tails as well as various gestures and postures. To be threatening beavers be have like cats, back arched and shaggy. For example a beaver in the presence of a fellow foreigner who violates the field, grabs a branch and waves it above his head like a club.

4. Another feature that approximates the man's ability is his way to store and transport food. The beaver not only store but also organizes a network of water transportation between warehouses and various terriers. Moreover, the builder is able to build monumental dams on rivers up to three meters high and several hundred meters long. What really distinguishes him from other mammals is the ability to use his environment and materials to organize a perfect habitat. Likewise we build our cities, the beaver builds and remodels nature at its convenience.

5. The beaver is in the order of rodents (Rodentia) and family Castoridae (Castoridae). It can reach up to 1.20m (from nose to tail) for an average weight of 35 kg. Only the capybara who lives in South America surpasses a maximum weight of 70 kg. Beaver: The largest rodent in Europe

6. Of course, compared to his ancestors, our current beaver seems very small. They were the size of a bear and weighed 300 kg. The European beaver (Castor fiber) lives mainly in northern France and Eurasia where it has been introduced in many regions. The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) lives in Canada and the United States. It has also been introduced in Europe and Scandinavia.

7. Beavers in the ecopole of forez The European beaver (also known as “Castor Fiber”) used to live on all the great European rivers. Following the massive destructions of its specie and the modification of its living environment, it had almost disappeared from our country, except for a small population in the “basse vallée du Rhône”. Nowadays, thanks to actions of protection and efforts to reintroduce them, beavers are developing and colonising again the sites where they used to live. The FRAPNA Loire has worked to reintroduce the beavers in the “Plaine du Forez”. In 1994, 13 beavers coming from the Drome, Ardèche and Rhône regions were released. Now, they colonize the river and its tributaries. Their evolution is followed by a team of naturalists from the FRAPNA Loire and the “Ecopole du Forez”. It is very difficult to watch a beaver during the day (it is a very shy animal with twilight and night habits), but you will be aware of its presence by finding evidence of its meals on the banks of the river.