Tatiana Catcheway - Beavers

Tatiana Catcheway's end-of-season presentation as part of the 2025 Youth Environmental Stewardship Program.

(0:00:00) Hello, my name is Tatiana, I'm from Swan Lake First Nation, and this is my first year working with Dave. Okay, to start off, we'll talk about beavers.

Why is it important to keep and have beavers? Beavers are such an important creature for keeping an ecosystem healthy, as they can create wetlands from the beaver dams, filter the water, which helps slow down erosion, reduce flooding, and helps protect the area.

(0:00:27) By doing that, the beaver provides homes for plants to thrive and grow, giving animals food and shelter to have throughout the seasonal years.

How to live with beavers? Living with beavers involves an understanding of how to live with them. We want to learn how to live with them rather than trying to be rid of them. By managing that,

(0:00:54) you can set wire mesh around the tree, expanding it to about three to four feet. You want the wire mesh to be loosened out to allow the tree to grow, but tight enough to keep the beavers away from getting the bark. Installing water levels through a pipe can also help keep the beaver at a controlled level, preventing any damage to be caused by the dams, but still allowing them to maintain their habitat. Creating new mesh habitats with beavers' activities such as dams, streams, or wetlands is a beneficial way to manage the beaver population and their impacts on surrounding human infrastructure.

(0:01:23) Beaver behavior is a captivating subject that this topic covers and reveals all of the important roles that beavers play in their existence.

(0:01:52) Habitat modification refers to the changes that are being made in the animal's natural environment. Beavers are constantly changing the environment to create good building conditions for them and us. Beavers change the landscape by building their dams, providing them with deeper water levels which can help them stay away from any predators around the area. They may constantly transform streams and rivers into wetlands. They are constantly changing the water flows because it's their natural instinct that relates to the lodges and dams to create a safer, and stable habitat.

(0:02:22) Beavers alter their habitat by changing the vegetation in the area by taking down trees, building dams and lodges, and tracking the soil for their food.

(0:02:46) Beavers create new wetlands in the area, which then expands the riparian areas as a positive matter, bringing in more wide-ranging wildlife. And with all of these things,

(0:03:14) the ecosystem in the area is constantly changing year after year, reshaping the modeling of cooperative ecosystems.

Social structure refers to the way that beavers interact with one another within their family, groups, or colonies. Cooperation is a big part of that. The way families maintain the beaver dams and lodges, gathering up their food, and raising the young ones—having those things make the beavers count together.

(0:03:43) Communication is another important topic to the beavers because they warn each other of any dangerous animals. They communicate to maintain social bonds through scent marking, tail slapping, vocalizations, and touch. Kids and yearlings—kids and yearlings are two different roles. A kid is a newborn baby, usually born in the springtime, plus 12 months old. Yearlings are typically

(0:04:13) a year old, in their second year of birth. Yearlings know a bit more knowledge than the kids do, as they are being prepared to lead a certain own colony.

Territoriality—beavers create territories by living in dams and lodges. They defend themselves by creating an upper zone with scent lines.

(0:04:42) What is their biggest, biggest predator?

Humans. Humans were the greatest beaver predators back in the day as they were hunted and killed more than me first for cashmere. And for those who don't know what cashmere is, cashmere is a very strong concentration of fur. Coyotes were also a big threat to beavers as they particularly prey on the young ones as they are slower and have less experience in survival skills.

(0:05:11) Foxes—foxes tend to do that too; they usually prey on younger beavers as well. Wolves—wolves are important too because they extend to their beavers around them from long ways, and they usually tend to come into paths.

How do beavers contribute to the rise in biodiversity? Beavers contribute to the rise in biodiversity by expanding the landscape of their lives and supporting a wide range of life.

(0:05:39) Improving water quality, that can increase the pollution cycles within the area. And small things like that can change the structure of forests.

Water quality and water quantity—good water quality refers to how clean and how healthy the water is, meaning there isn't much pollution or nasty stuff messing up the area. It's also safe for us with animals and plants to use.

(0:06:07) While water quantity refers to how much water there is in the ecosystem, meaning how much water can benefit everyone's needs, whether it goes for drinking, farming, or keeping the ecosystem healthy.

Why are beavers so important? Beavers are important to people in many ways that most people don't even know. They provide extra water in dry days by creating dams, and often when they do that, restore the water aid.

(0:06:33) And that's going to get that groundwater recharge which helps filter the water through a physical, chemical, and biological process. But I'm not going to get into that. They provide water and homes for plants and other species. And last but not least, they provide food for people by improving the water quality and reducing the harmful runoffs into downstream areas.

(0:07:00) When beavers are around, you've got fish coming in, a lot of plants, a lot of insects are appearing, and you can't forget about those darn edibles. Oops, sorry! (edible plants) So that's it for my presentation.