Wyoming’s occurrence data holds 591 American beaver records, split fairly evenly between iNaturalist and GBIF entries. Grand Teton National Park alone accounts for 29 of the state’s mapped sightings, making it the single most-documented spot for this species in Wyoming.
The Snake River’s slow water
Beavers need still or slow-moving water to build a dam and lodge, and Wyoming’s records trace exactly that kind of ground: the braided channels and beaver ponds of the Snake River valley in Grand Teton, plus quieter stretches inside Yellowstone and the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone national forests. Fast mountain streams straight off the Wind River or Absaroka high country don’t offer the same slack water, so records thin out fast once the terrain steepens.
Built for Wyoming’s long winter
A beaver spends the warmer months cutting bark, twigs, and water plants, then stockpiles branches underwater near the lodge entrance as a food cache for the cold season. That habit matters more in Wyoming than in milder states, since many of the ponds beavers depend on here freeze solid for months, and the underwater cache is what keeps a colony fed until ice-out. Records climb through late spring and peak in July, likely tracking when beavers are most active and visible above the ice rather than any change in where they live.
Status in Wyoming
NatureServe ranks the American beaver S4, Apparently Secure, and it’s native to Wyoming. Its dams and canals continue to shape the same slow-water habitat across the Snake River valley and the state’s mountain forests that its records already point to.
Full species profile
