In this section are copies of original works of art. All of them are dedicated to helping us live according to unconditional love and compassion, which is the foundation of our peaceful means of bringing true and lasting peace to all of God's creatures, whether they are human beings or other animals.
(Artwork - 090)
Canadian Beaver
(Castor canadensis)
I finished this painting a couple of weeks ago. It was roughed out
in acrylics, on stretched canvas, and then painted over in oils.
It is really more of a study than a painting, and I donated the original to
an animal protection and environmental organization. It is done in a
“broader” manner, with little attention to detail, than is typical of my
more finished work, but it’s fun to paint in oils and they provide all
manner of options, more so than the acrylics I usually employ.
I have always been fascinated by these animals; they range throughout most
of North America, south of the tundra, and as far south as Mexico.
There is something like 24 different subspecies, meaning a lot of variation
across that wide range.
They are very closely related to the Eurasian Beaver, (Castor fiber) which
they quite closely resemble, but the Eurasian species has a very small
range, mostly northern Europe and northwestern Asia.
The beaver is famous for building dams of sticks and branches, mud and other
vegetation, that can create ponds, and help control water flow.
This, in turn, creates habitat. Flooded trees die and are often used
by goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers or Wood Ducks for
nesting…these all being “hole-nesting” species that like to be near water.
Great Blue Herons may also access such ponds, and recent research has
identified beaver ponds as being very important to wild-nesting Trumpeter
Swans, who seem to prefer the smaller ponds to large lakes, and, in boreal
forests in the east (Ontario and Quebec) you often find that American Black
Ducks or Canada Geese will not only use beaver ponds, it is not unusual for
them to nest on top of the beaver lodges.
The lodges are great mounds of sticks and branches with an open area inside
for the beaver to live in, and give birth.Entrances are underwater,
and the branches thin out at the top to allow ventilation. They are
incredibly sturdy, as are the dams. Not all beavers build dams
or lodges, some living beside suitable waterways, and burrowing into river
banks. The much smaller Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is vaguely
similar to the beaver but has a narrow, slender tail, not the broad, flat
tail of the beaver, and makes smaller, less sturdy lodges. It is
far more common and widely distributed and I hope to paint it one day, too.
The beavers of my region, southern Ontario, were rare when I was young,
having been trapped so much for the fur trade, when beaver pelts were quite
valuable.Fortunately they have recovered and are again now
found in many places where they have been wiped out, not always to their
benefit.We have had to fish out disoriented young beavers that got
into the sludge and oil that accumulates along the Toronto waterfront.And since they also can gnaw through trees, to fell them for food and
building material, some people oppose their presence on their property or on
parklands. Fortunately beaver usually use fast-growing, common tree
species, and it is not difficult to protect a tree that is valued, wrapping
it in sturdy mesh working best. Dams can also cause water to
back up and flood roads and other such areas. This can be a
special problem in areas where the destruction of so many beaver coincided
with bad road planning, so that when the beaver returned the roads could be
seen to be in potential flood zones.
On the other hand, new research has shown that beaver dams work well to
actually prevent flooding, especially in the prairie provinces.
Global climate change has led to vast increases in a species of insect
called the Mountain Pine Beetle, in western North America (see current issue
of National Geographic Magazine) with vast swaths of forest killed very
quickly, which, along with increased melting of glaciers and snow packs,
will enhance flooding, making beavers all the more valuable (they tend to
utilize broadleaf trees, not the evergreens).
The net result has been some effort to move beavers from where they are not
wanted to where they serve valued ecological functions. See
Beavers Put to Work Restoring streams, Improving Salmon Habitat in
Washington.
Altogether a complex, beautiful and fascinating mammal.
I hope, some day, to do a full painting of the beaver, not a bird, but still
I think very attractive as a subject.
Copyright © Barry Kent MacKay
Barry describes himself as a Canadian artist/writer/naturalist.
See his website:
Return to
Art by Barry Kent MacKay
Return to Art By Various Artists
Return to Art and Photo Journals and Galleries