So I've got a beaver situation that I can't seem to figure out. I trapped one beaver on this creek several weeks ago, and knocked a hole in the dam, which did not get repaired for at least two weeks. So, I figured cased closed. Now, about a month and a half later, I he creek is frozen over.
It seems another beaver has moved in, though. In the last couple weeks, the creek froze over, and since then, there's been trees getting chopped down on top of the ice, and being chewed on top of the ice., and on shore too. One tree was dropped right onto the ice, and Mr Beaver chew d it up good, leaving wood chips all over on top of the ice. The thing is, though, I can't for the life of me find where he's living. I've walked the whole creek, from below the dam to way above, where it's only a couple inches deep. There's no den, no bubble trails, no feed bed, and no open water. Yet, there's obvious chewings, just last night a tree that was chewed a couple weeks ago got chewed up some more.

So is it possible that this beaver isn't able to get under the ice? Could he be living in an above-ground den, like he slept through freeze-up or something? What am I missing?

Must have a surface den/bed. I had a beaver last year living in a dry aqueduct with branches piled up and grass bed under the pile. The beaver would cut trees as needed for food.

Son and me left a diving beaver for seed in a local river. Had a bank den or feed hole a good 10 feet above the water line. When we would go by in the boat he would slide down the bank a few feet then launch his self into the river. We made it a point not to kill him cause we thought it pretty cool.