A beaver can jump several meters using its tail as a spring (6 photos)

Did you know that a beaver can attack you by shooting its body with its tail? The rodent will fly up so dashingly that it will cover several meters in a couple of seconds. And all this to grab the enemy’s throat. Therefore, under no circumstances should you approach a wild animal; what if it attacks?





Hide your gun, coward, come out and fight with edged weapons! You are on knives, I am on teeth!

We, too, had no idea about jet rodents until we read this nonsense on the Internet. But people totally believed in this story. According to the logic of the writer, the beaver uses its tail as a spring, pushing off the ground with it during an attack. If you look at the animal when it sits, it may even sound logical: the wide tail, like an oar, looks like it is capable of tossing a rodent, like on a children's swing. But logic collapses if you just look at the facts for a second.



This is the full text of the myth about jet beavers and their bloodthirstiness.

First of all, let us remind you that the common beaver is the second largest rodent on the planet. Its weight on average reaches about 30 kg. How powerful, in principle, must the spring in the tail be to launch the poor animal several meters forward? Just shoot from the spot? Clearly not a task for the tail. Even for an adult man it will be quite difficult to throw such a carcass from its place.





Finding a photo of a person holding an adult beaver is not so easy. Because it’s hard to even lift this beast!

The second point: although the beaver's tail looks like a paddle, inside it, like any other tail, consists of vertebrae. Therefore, the animal cannot physically roll it into a spring. In this case, the pressure will be uneven, and the rodent will simply break its tail! For the same reason, the animal will not be able to jump as if from a lever. There are simply not so many muscles in the limb, and the vertebrae themselves are not strong enough to even lift the animal. Not like throwing it up.



Now you know what a beaver's tail looks like from the inside.

If we have dealt with the myth, now it is worth understanding what functions a beaver tail can perform? In fact, there are quite a few of them too! Firstly, the beaver uses its wide, flat tail as a rudder, which helps it adjust its direction while swimming. It’s very convenient when you spend half your life under water.



The fact that a beaver is not able to fly on its tail does not mean that it is a peace-loving animal. A wild animal should be avoided, as it may rush to defend its territory.

Secondly, beavers are famous carpenters, but standing and gnawing wood is not particularly convenient. Therefore, the animal uses its tail as a stool to comfortably rest its butt on.



When I sat down to put on a sock in the morning, I was stuck in a shrimp state for half an hour.

Thirdly, a large network of blood vessels runs through the tail, which allows the beaver, due to their expansion and contraction, not to overheat in the heat and not freeze in the cold. The rodent itself has more than enough of these functions. And there is no need to attribute extra things to him!