American Beaver (Castor canadensis) has done some fine wood work in Weybridge, Vermont. © Ron Payne
Congratulations to Ron Payne for winning the November 2016 iNaturalist Vermont photo-observation of the month contest. His image of an American Beaver’s incredible woodworking skills was the most popular photo-observation as measured by clicked ‘favs’.
Beaver’s teeth grow continuously so they always have a sharp chisel handy. Their four incisors are composed of hard orange enamel on the front and a softer dentin on the back. The orange color is from iron in the enamel. The sharp edges of the teeth are maintained by their self-sharpening wear pattern. Listen to Outdoor Radio show about beavers and learn more, and view a map of beaver observations in Vermont and report your own to iNaturalist Vermont.
Visit iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life, and you can vote for the winner this month by clicking ‘fav’ on your favorite photo-observation. Make sure you get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you and submit your discoveries and you could be a winner!
