THE BEAVER

Colony Work...

Ganni Beaver Cut Outs

Make your own Beaver Bookmark

GAMES

SONGS

Beavers live in colonies.

A colony may contain as little as two or as many as a dozen beavers and is located

in a stream, lake or pond. Often a colony of beavers will create their own pond by

building one or more dams across a stream or other water source.

Within a colony the beaver is a highly social creature.

Beavers are nocturnal animals; while they are seen during the day, much of the

beavers' work is accomplished during the evening and night hours.

One beaver or two beavers working alternately, can gnaw through the trunk of a

tree fairly quickly. A tree 3 to 4 inches in diameter can be felled in under an hour.

During the course of a year, two beavers may fell as many as 400 trees, some of

them over a foot and a half in diameter.

Usually trees are cut within about 150 feet of the shoreline. When a tree has been

felled, several beavers may participate in removing branches, cutting up limbs and

dragging or floating the material to a chosen site. At the site, branches and limbs are

progressively interwoven to produce a solid structure which is then sealed with

rocks, mud and grass.

A dam may grow to well over 100 feet in length and the pond behind it may grow

to cover several acres, providing the beaver colony with a good refuge from

land-based predators.

Some dams have

been reported to

reach well over a

thousand feet in

length, creating a

lake with numerous

lodges.

In preparation for

winter, the beavers

will work to ensure

that the dam is suffi-

ciently high and the

pond deep enough

to prevent the water

from freezing to the

bottom.

COLONY COMMANDSCOLONY COMMANDSCOLONY COMMANDSCOLONY COMMANDS

A leader calls out the words and the Beavers do the appropriate action or activity:

Command: Action:

Riverbanks —Form river banks

Build the Dam —Dam formation

Tail Slap —Sit on the floor and slap floor with hand

Lodges —Form a group with your tail level

Salute your friends —Do the Scout sign

Chop, Chop —Take chopping position

Mend the front/back/side of the lodge —Run to the appropriate wall

Danger! —Lie down flat in a tight bunch in the centre of the

room.

• To prepare for this you might want to have symbols/pictures for the lodges.

Hand signals can reinforce other directions i.e. Front/right, etc.

COLONY ICE BREAKING GAMECOLONY ICE BREAKING GAMECOLONY ICE BREAKING GAMECOLONY ICE BREAKING GAME

This is ideal when you have new Beavers in the Colony. It will help them to get to

know the rest of the Colony.

Each Beaver is given a copy of the sheet below:

The Beavers would then mix and mingle and ask questions to the rest of the Beavers

BASH THE LEADER Divide the Beavers into 4 teams. The objective of the games is to hit the leaders with

the soft balls. Scouters are situated in each of four corners of hall 4 teams of scouts,

each assigned to different a leader. Beavers place themselves strategically in their

quadrant to protect their assigned leader. Once placed, Beavers are not allowed to

move their feet (they can twist and turn to intercept and throw balls). Leaders count

each time they are struck by ball. The leader with least amount of hits is the winner.

CAPTURE THE TOWER Divide players into two sides: Attackers and Defenders.

Defenders form a circle, holding hands and facing outward, with their captain in the

centre. Attackers surround the fort at about eight or ten paces distant. They try to

kick a soccer ball into the fort; it may go through the legs of the defenders or over

their heads. If it goes over their heads, the captain may catch it and throw it out. But

if it touches the ground inside the circle, the fort is captured and the players change

sides.

CAT AND MOUSE

Organize the players into a rectangular grid, or maze, spaced out so that they stand

two arms lengths away from their partners in all 4 directions. If you have an

awkward number of players you may leave out up to 2 players - they will be given

roles later in the game. Before the game starts it is best to rehearse changing the

maze:

Start with all the players facing in the same direction with their arms spread to their

sides - this should create a number of rows. On the command 'Turn' everyone should

turn round 90° - don't be too worried which way just as long as it is a quarter turn.

This changes the maze from rows to columns.

Two players a 'cat' and a 'mouse' will run around the maze, the cat trying to catch

and tag the mouse. They may run around the maze and along the lines of arms but

must not pass or stretch across them. You can shout 'Turn' at any point during the

game to change the maze. Thus you may suddenly prevent the mouse getting caught

or put the mouse very close to the cat.

When the mouse is caught start again with another pair or start with a new mouse

and allow the old mouse to 'grow' to a cat.

DODGE BALL Divide the Colony into two teams. One team makes a circle and the other team

stands inside it. The beavers forming the circle throw a large ball at those inside the

circle, who are running around trying not to be hit. The inside beavers may not

catch the ball. A ball hitting a beaver on the head does not count. Only beavers in

the outside circle may catch and throw the ball. Beavers who are hit below the knee

join the outside circle and try to hit the beavers inside.

BEAVER STUFF TREASURE HUNT

Divide the Colony into 2 teams. Distribute 2 sets of pictures related to the Beaver

and its environment around the Head Quarters for exampled: Infront of GSL’s office

door, on the Scout Leader’s Desk, etc. and send the beavers off on a treasure hunt,

with the aim to find all. When the team gather all the pictures they have to put them

on a large poster showing the Beaver’s Habitat. First team ready wins.

TAILS Each Beaver receives a 'tail' (which can be a scarf), and puts it UNTIED in the back of

his pants. Spread the Beavers out and say go. Beavers run around trying to grab and

keep the other tails, but at the same time try to keep their own tail. If the Beaver

loses his tail, he may continue to collect other tails. "Winner" is either the Beaver

who is the only one with his tail, or the Beaver who has collected the most tails.

MOUSETRAP Two Beavers make a mousetrap by joining hands. Beavers go through the trap.

When the Leader calls out 'Mousetrap', anyone inside the trap becomes part of the

trap. Eventually, you will have a large circle mousetrap, and only a couple of Bea-

vers running through.

BEAVER BEAVER COME OUT AND BE FED Beavers form a dam and face inwards. The leader breaks the circle and starts walking

inside the circle, slowly while chanting the verse below. The leader, with the Beavers

following keeps walking in circles towards the center. Once they reach the middle,

they change direction and begin to weave back out. When finished, everyone is in a

large circle facing outwards. How did that happen ?

Chant:

Beaver, Beaver, come out and be fed,

First your tail and then your head.

Bring your Mama and your Papa,

We'll feed you fried bacon.

GLUEPOTS A game for as many Beavers as possible. One Beaver is chosen to be 'it' and has to

chase the other Beavers. Before the games starts, 'it' picks a number of special places

to put the people he catches. These are the Beavers gluepots and any Beaver who is

put there cannot move. They can be released, however, only if a free player touches

their hand - but if the free player makes a mistake and puts a foot into the gluepot,

then he is stuck there also.

For more game ideas, go through Chapter 20 of the BSL Manual.

B - a beaver, I will be.

E - each one will learn to share.

A - a helping hand we'll give.

V - our vest we proudly wear.

E - enjoy the things we do.

R - remember all we learn.

Work and play and help the world.

Better Beavers we will be.

Share, share, share, share.

There's a Beaver in the beaver pond,

And he's swimming all around.

As he gathers twigs and many things

To make his lodge real sound.

Oh, he works all day and most the night,

And he sings a merry tune,

You can see him in the evening light

Of the great big silvery moon.

We're the square lodge

We're the square lodge

Oh, the square lodge we are

And the lodges all together

Make a colony you see.

Keep on sharing

Keep on sharing

Help your friends and family

If you want to be a Beaver

Share your work and fun with me.

Beavers going into the forest

To get wood, to get wood,

Beavers going into the forest,

To get wood, to get wo-oo-od.

Build dams, yes, we build dams

That is how we use our woo-oo-od.

Build dams, yes, we build dams

That is how we use our wood.

Chopping, chopping, chopping, chopping

Slapping, slapping, slapping, slapping

Chorus:

Chew, chew, chew, chew

That's what beavers do, we chew

Slap you tail, shout out loud

I'm proud to be a beaver

No time to play there's work to do

Dams to build, logs to chew

Aspen wood tastes good you know

Tree comin' down, look out below!

Chorus

Rodents come in different sizes

We are bid look at the incisors

Our teeth keep growing unless

we're doing

What we do best, that is chewing

Under the ice we dive down low

Our lodge is entered from below

It's warm and safe and dry in

there

Because we're skilful engineers

Chorus

Slap your tail, sound the alarm

Webbed feet swim away from

harm

River otter loves to eat

Beaver snack, beaver treat

Waterproof fur and diving gear

Plugs for the nose and plugs for the

ears

We wear diving goggles too

You see we're built to swim and

chew

Beaver ponds help flood control

In times of drought they're a water

hole

So remember your beaver pals

We build lodges, dams and canal

Chorus