The Beaver
The beaver is another
uniquely designed creation. The following is copied verbatim from
Creation Ex Nihilo Vol. 15 No. 2, March-May 1993, pages 38-41.
Hopefully you will see the value of subscribing to this creationist
magazine as you read the words of author and scientist,
Denis Dreves:
"Beavers:
Aquatic Architects"
"The dam building
ability of beavers is fairly well known, but beavers possess other
amazing design features which God has included in their anatomy. Beavers
are air-breathing mammals which spend a great deal of time in water. For
this reason they need special equipment.
First, the beaver has special valves in its ears and nose. When the beaver dives below the water these valves automatically close so that no water can enter. When the animal resurfaces, the valves reopen and it breathes again.
Perhaps their most
amazing piece of equipment is their eyelids. If you have done any diving
or snorkeling you will know that water and materials in it can irritate
your eyes and wash out natural lubricants. Not only that, but your eyes
do not see well under water. That is why snorkelers wear goggles.
Were we original to
think up this idea of goggles?
Not really. God
designed beavers with "built-in" goggles. Their eyelids are transparent,
so they can close their eyes underwater and still see extremely well.
Their transparent eyelids give protection to their eyes from waterborne
irritants.
During winter,
beavers must feed on the bark of trees they have cut and stored in the
autumn, using their specially designed, self-sharpening front incisors
(perhaps one of the beaver's better known pieces of equipment).
The beavers collect
the young trees [usually two to five centimeters (one to two inches) in
diameter] for food, cut them to suitable lengths and then transport
them, by holding them in their teeth, to their underwater cache, forcing
the branches into the mud at the bottom of the pond.
AMAZING DESIGN
Which brings us to
another amazing design feature. To retrieve the stored food in the
winter months when ice covers the pond, the beaver may need to chew the
sticks underwater. They can do this without water entering their mouths,
because they have fur mouth flaps between their front incisors and their
rear molar teeth, which are set considerably further back. These two
folds of skin, one on each side of the mouth, meet behind the incisors
and seal off the rest of the mouth.
The beaver's large
paddle-shaped tail, which has a scale-like skin covering it, is used as
a rudder when it swims. This is particularly important when the animal
is swimming with a branch in its mouth. The tail must compensate for any
uneven drag from the branch, thus the tail is often held at an angle for
accurate steering.
The rear feet of
the beaver are large and webbed like a duck's feet, to give the animal
good swimming ability. The two inner claws of each foot have split
toenails, which the beaver uses as a comb to groom itself and oil its
fur.
Beavers use their
smaller, unwebbed front paws to carry mud and other materials, and to
dig canals which they use as a means of transporting wood and also as a
means of quick escape from predators.
The fur of the
beaver must be oiled to prevent water reaching the animal's skin. The
oil is provided from two large oil glands. They are filled with a rich,
thick, deep yellow oily liquid, which the beaver spreads on its fur for
waterproofing. This, along with its two layers of fur, are so effective
that water rarely reaches the skin. A layer of fat beneath the skin
gives further protection against the cold.
A beaver can swim
submerged for perhaps 800 meters (a half-mile) or more. Most
air-breathing creatures would be adversely affected by lack of oxygen to
the brain. The beaver has special equipment to compensate for this need.
Large lungs and liver allow for the storage of more air and oxygenated
blood. In addition, a beaver's heart beats more slowly when it dives, in
order to conserve oxygen, and the blood is restricted to the animals
extremities while the vital supply to the brain remains normal.
ENGINEERING SKILLS
Beavers construct
dams that may be hundreds of meters long. Construction of the dam is
done by cutting down trees and shrubs, dragging each piece to the
dam-site, and laying them in the water parallel to the stream (end
facing upstream). Almost everything the beavers can find goes into the
dam - live wood, dead wood, mud, grass and rocks. When the beaver's pond
floods, mounting pressure on the dam can cause it to break. To prevent
this, if there is time, the beaver engineers a spillway to relieve
pressure, then fixes it after the water subsides.
Beaver lodges are
also the work of a master builder. They are built with sticks, and
sealed from the cold with mud. The center of the roof is not sealed,
which allows some ventilation. Access is only from underwater, with more
than one entry in case of the need to escape. The beavers can gain
direct underwater access to the cache of sticks they have stored under
the water when ice covers the pond in winter and this is their only
available food.
Truly the beaver is yet another example of the wonderful provision and wise planning of a caring Creator God. Such variety of essential equipment could not have evolved over time by chance and selection. All of the beaver's equipment must be present and fully functional in the animal from the beginning for it to survive its semi-aquatic life-style."
