Beaver

The beaver is a semi-aquatic rodent native to North America and Europe

North American Beaver Castor Canadensis

(Public domain picture, from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [full size image])

It is best known for its natural trait of building dam?s in rivers.

The European beaver, Castor Fiber, was hunted almost to extinction in Europe, both for fur, and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties. Since its near-extinction, the beaver is being re-introduced throughout Europe. The beaver became extinct in Britain in the sixteenth century: there are proposals, and a great deal of interest, in reintroducing the European Beaver to Scotland, see http://www.scotsbeavers.org