Last winter there was a beaver house I trapped. I went back last week and it was completely gone. You wouldn't even know it there was one there. It was above a dam. The dam is still in tact and plenty of beaver sign. The one thing that did happen was a few heavy storms that knocked down several trees in the area.

What would cause a beaver house to be there in winter and completely gone by late summer?

Nobody home to maintain it

Everything got washed away and the dam was rebuilt by new beavers?

Dams can last year's with no repairs depending on construction and type of waterway impounded. Lodges however need a good amount of maintenance as the living chambers are the weak spots. Especially in bank dens.

Never seen a beaver house disappear in one year,unless on a bigger river and get bulldozed away by the ice and high water in spring..
Other than that,old houses flatten out over time when not used.

Grass on the lodge in the summer makes it hard to see and snow in the winter makes it easy to see. Maybe to sarcastic of a reply but I have had that experience

I’ve seen beaver houses still intact years after I trapped them out. They will flatten, and sometimes you can see into them, but I’ve never seen one disappear. Like Boco said, the only way I could imagine one disappearing is if it got washed away.

Well, it is on a dammed up stream leading to a small river. I guess the storm and water levels took it out. That's what I figured must have happened. The house was a new one last year, so maybe it didn't have the structure to withstand the elements.

Thanx for the replys.

Is it possible that it was abandoned and the dam raised so it's submerged

Maybe it was a mobile home....

There’s a beaver house I trap that has been there for 31 years.

I have seen where bears open lodges here, and they really move alot of the sticks and mud to get inside. Once they do the damage the lodges deteriorate really quick and the beavers never return but normally build a new lodge or bank den.