{"id":12417,"date":"2022-12-05T04:06:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T09:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/?p=12417"},"modified":"2022-12-05T04:07:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T09:07:40","slug":"animals-that-look-like-beavers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forestwildlife.org\/animals-that-look-like-beavers\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Animals That Look Like Beavers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are many animals that look similar to each other, and to a casual observer, it may be easy to confuse these different animals. However, if you look a bit closer, you can often learn to distinguish between them. Today, we\u2019re specifically going to talk about some animals that look like beavers: muskrats, otters, nutrias, groundhogs, marmots, capybaras, and mink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animals That Look Like Beavers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Muskrats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"muskrats\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both muskrats and beavers are covered in brown fur and spend a lot of time in the water. Their bodies have a similar shape and, from a distance, it is very easy to confuse them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, muskrats share perhaps more physical similarities with beavers than any other animal on this list. These adorable creatures look almost exactly like diminutive beavers, with the exception of their tails and their great size difference.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas beavers have distinctive flat and hairless tails, muskrats have skinny rounded tails that look much like the tail of a mouse. What\u2019s more, muskrats are very tiny\u2013even as adults, they weigh no more than 3 to 4 pounds, while adult beavers typically weigh around 60 pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Otters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"sea<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both sea and river otters look quite similar to beavers. It is especially easy to confuse river otters with beavers because their native habitats often overlap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were to see a beaver and an otter next to each other, you would notice a significant difference in size and body shape. Beavers are larger and heavier than otters, while otters have a longer, more streamlined shape.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you don\u2019t have them standing next to each other for the sake of comparison, it is easy to mistake a river otter for a beaver. Both animals are covered in brown fur, spend lots of time in the water, and have similar-looking faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Nutrias<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like muskrats, nutrias look strikingly similar to beavers in shape and color. They are also larger than muskrats, weighing in around 15 to 20 pounds, making them closer in size to the beaver than the muskrat is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, nutrias have large yellow to orange buck teeth just like beavers do. Though they have many similarities, a closer look will allow you to spot their differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrias have coarser fir than beavers do, and their tails are round and hairless like the tail of a rat. What\u2019s more, their back legs are longer than their front legs, which allows them to sit up on their haunches from time to time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beavers also enjoy the water more than nutrias do. Though nutrias live on riverbanks and near other water sources, they don\u2019t spend as much time in the water as beavers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out this video to learn more about nutrias:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RUfUJ7mlGbo<\/a>