Hippo's Wild World of Animals - Random Animal Facts

Beavers are large semi-aquatic rodents with two separate species making up the genus Castor to which they belong, the Eurasian beaver with most of its habitat being across Russia and parts and the North American beaver which even with associations with Canada are found throughout North America as well as other smaller introduced populations in Northern Europe.


They live mainly in groups of upto 12 within constructions called lodges which are somewhat like icebergs in being rather expansive below the water and are entered from underwater. Being semi-aquatic means much of the beaver's life is spent near and in river and streams and is helped by its ability to stay underwater for up to 15 minutes.


While they get a bad rap for felling trees in a seemingly unconstructive and destructive manner, they actually are a keystone species much like the sea otter and help maintain waterways as well as helping out the local biome with their tree felling.


Size wise, they're second only to the capybara in overall rodent size measuring around 100cm including tail and weighing around 20kg for the North American beaver with the Eurasian beaver slightly smaller by comparison.


Much like the capybara and other rodents, their teeth need to be constantly worn down and happen to be partially orange much like the nutria. Their large broad tails have a relatively small array of uses, mostly for warning of danger through slapping it against the water and as a place for fat reserves during the winter months. Whether or not it uses it to pat down mud remains unknown.


Their dams and lodges are feats of engineering with an incredible structural integrity and indication of high beaver intelligence. The main reason for damming rivers is usually to make sure the body of water that their lodges are built in are deep enough to not freeze over but will also flood other areas nearby, usually where they were gnawing, in order to be able to eat. Their main food intake is from trees, specifically the leaves, inner bark and buds of various trees which felling helps to make these broadleaves grow closer to the ground.


While they have terrible eyesight, a lot more of their navigation is scent and sound based. They also have webbed feet unlike the capybara but only on their hind legs.


Though neither the Eurasian nor the North American beaver are considered endangered (though for a period the Eurasian beaver was classed as Near Threatened generally and was extinct in various countries), they have been trapped for their fur and their testicles and musk glands which apparently had medicinal properties.


With the near extinction of Eurasian beavers and noticing their impact on local ecology, many have been reintroduced into places where they used to live and most of these attempts have been very successful. If you're wondering, beavers would make for a difficult pet with their need for trees to gnaw for food and to build large lodges in rivers.

Snow leopards are giant-ass cats mostly resident to the mountainous areas of central and southern Asia. This specific mewmewface has two subspecies with a possible third living in southern Russia. The closest relative was thought to be the leopard but actually has more in common taxonomically with the tiger.


Being frozen moutain dwellers, they're not superhuge for a big cat weighing around 40kg on average, measuring around 100cm from nose to tailtip and standing at 55cm at the shoulder. They're stocky, highly fuzzy and have large paws for traction on snow with a lot of their body size made up of their thick furred tails which are used for balance and for warmth due to the fur density and use as a fat reserve much like the beaver.


Generally, snow leopards are not social and generally just mosey around the mountain ranges alone unless paired with a mate. Much of their activities are done at dawn and dusk being crepuscular and their lifespans are about cat length with snow leopards living for 15-25 years. Though they're closely related to the tiger, they do not roar but instead are limited to the array of noises your average cat is.


Snow leopards are technically carnivores but happen to consume a high amount of vegetation, their general kills will vary depending on their location but will hunt for animals much larger than them such as sheep, horses, camels, much of which is usually domesticated livestock. They'll also take in smaller animals like hares, some birds and lots of different rodents but will also eat other animal's kills.


They are also endangered with much of the threat coming from their frozen mountain homes gradually being melted away and affecting their prey's locations so hooray, another victim of anthropogenic endangerment! Last year was actually designated the Year of the Snow Leopard in order to raise awareness and help conserve their ecosystems, their numbers could stand at 10,000 if not considerably lower with around 600 in captivity. Pet viability is somewhat low but if you can handle a tiger, chances are a full-grown snow leopard will be good.