Do Beavers Get the Zoomies? Take a Look and You Decide.

Beavers are known for unusually large teeth, which they use to gnaw through wood. A beaver dam can hold up to 1.1 million gallons of water, making this little guy a construction master. Beavers might look like all business on the front, but the one in this video by Newhouse Wildlife Rescue is cuter than the average. Is it imitating a bunny, or is this beaver really that happy? Let’s find out the reason for these hippity-hops.

Is This Beaver Just Happy?

To answer this, we must first find out if beavers feel emotions. Strong evidence shows they feel stress and sadness, specifically toward other family members. Their familial bonds are more substantial than many other animals, and they often feel losses deeply. Rescued beavers, such as those at Earthfire Institute, bond quickly, especially when there’s a baby present. It’s thought that close-knit beaver families sometimes feel a loss so profoundly that the surviving members may suffer physical effects.

Since we know beavers deeply feel negative emotions, it would make sense for them to feel positive emotions. However, this has yet to be confirmed. They communicate with other beavers in several ways, including tail slaps and vocalizations. Hopping isn’t typical behavior of the species, but that doesn’t mean it has no purpose.

Hopping Is a Unique, Rare Behavior

The beaver in this video is doing something akin to a natural rabbit behavior. A binky, or “popcorning,” happens when a rabbit feels excitement or happiness. They get bursts of energy and hop around, not unlike a popcorn kernel before it pops. This playful behavior is unique to rabbits, although this video does raise the question of whether beavers experience the same thing.

While there’s no scientific explanation for it, it’s surmised that baby beavers do this more often than adults. It can happen due to a sudden surprise or burst of energy. Hopping is not typical of a beaver nor is it often observed in the wild. However, the beaver in this video has gone viral for its unique binky behavior, although there’s still no concrete reason why.

This video, captured by Mike Digout, shows a beaver doing a similar movement. The beaver on this trail was simply trying to get away. It’s not as significant a hop as we see in Newhouse Wildlife Rescue’s video above, but a sudden burst of speed makes sense. So, do beavers experience zoomies? Or are they just easily spooked? The world may never know, but it sure is adorable.