We have all seen alot of articles and drawings of what a beaver does at a dam break, but has anyone ever documented it? Here is a break in a dam I made and the results.

Look closley at the 2 pics. One is color the other is black and white, but you can still make out where the water line was and where it is when Mr. beaver is making his repairs. Look at the foot placement. The time on the pics is 12 hours off so take that into consideration.

Lets here your comments or what you think is going on here!!!!!


Before



During



I know the specifics of this spot but I want to hear what yall think!!

beaver has debris and mud tucked under its chin .... pushin mud to repair

Looks to me as if he is bring a load of mud up from the back of the dam to patch the hole. I was always told that they dig there mud from the back side of the dam, that is why the water will be so deep even in a shallow creek. I sure wish you could have gotten a pic of him packing the mud with his tail like they do in the cartoons.

Yep I agree with Gary, the difference in water levels I'm guessing is because of the hole you put in the dam, and it must have let a lot of water out.

Ya Charles I noticed the frog also!!

lol@charles ....good eye .... howard i was told theey bring debris from out in front of the dam to construct and repair ... and by the feel of the bottom of the bed in front of the dam tells me this is true ... why would a beaver take from the dam to replace it ?? wouldnt this weaken the dam ?? .... not sayin im right ... just wanna hear ya thoughts

I guess what I am gettin at is think of trap placement!! 5 hours later and set for a front foot this spot woulda been high and dry!!!

Gary every beaver dam we drain down here has a large pool hole on the up stream side of the dam. Not at the base of the dam, but back away from it sometimes a few feet, some times a few yards, sometime feather. The beaver dig the mud from the up stream side and pack it at a almost 45* angle on the up stream side of the dam. This is why the back side or upstream side is so smooth and the front or down stram side has all the debris sticking out the front side. Now I may not be right, but there is always a deeper hole on the up stream side of the dam.

well, ILL state the obviuos, so some newbies might learn to......

a 330 or a snare would be no good, becasue of that stick he has in his mouth........

i was meanin after the dam is built .... spose i worded it a bit wrong .... i was just wonderin why ya would think the beaver would leave the deep side of the dam ... crawl over the dam ... and then carry the mud from the shallow side of the dam to the damged area/areas .... sorry for the confusion

Gary I should have stated upsteam/down stream the first time instead of front and back, cause I am not real for sure what is the front or back. LOL.

Beside, Charles, I don't set a trap then break the dam. I only break the dam a few day before I leave to make sure I got them all and the water is going to run down.

That was actually a cross over I busted out. I think they do the final repair from the down stream side, the actual big reinforcement of the dam. This one as most just put a plug in it, fer now. the water levels are so low it didnt have to worry about the dam spilling over. I think it is just worried about conserving what water it has left.

oh well ... now we are both confused .... lol ..... davis thanx for the pix man !!! they are great !!! first of their kind that i have seen on here .... would be very cool to get sum video footage of that cam set in that exact spot .... have sum ideas for ya to try if that cam is still there and not far from ya basecamp ...lol ..... would think ya would get pix of critters crossin that dam as well .... thanx for sharin man !!!

Gary I am back home now, got in about 2 hours ago. I had to pull it cause we were packin up!

thats cool man .... hope to see sum more pix from ya soon !!! gettin that time of the year !! still need to get alot of things together and get sum papers signed ... hit me up with a PM when ya get the chance

I think the beaver is saying, with a glare in his eye, who was the so and so that busted my dam.
I personally think that beaver work on the breast of the dam from the breast side. The breast side being the side that holds the water back. Now if a beaver has a second and third dam, which is quite normal , he may then get his mud from below the dam.

Great post! Has anyone set up a trail cam on a castor mound during the spring?

That's a great post Sean. To "Me", the beaver has a load of repair debris in his front feet, tucked under his chin, and is plugging the whole while working from the side of the hole rather than square on. You can certainly see where a large foothold trap should be placed to catch this fella.
Very informayive post, especially from a beaver trappers point of view. This just confirms what we usually speculate goes on.
Hope this one is archived. Good job buddy......and welcome home.

Thanks Bottomline, in this specific pool I have seen 4 beaver at once, and there were at least 2 more on the big dam about 50 yards up stream.

Now what you cant see is the feed bed in the middle of this pool about 15' behind this beaver. They have a couple small Maple trees down and drug into the water that they are eating on.