Talk:Beaver dam

Inside the dam?
Can anyone add diagrams or photos of the inside of a dam? I thought that might make a good addition. --Doradus (talk) 14:02, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Even a text description would be useful JQ (talk) 07:27, 17 August 2019 (UTC)


 * It's a solid mass of sticks and mud, so there isn't much to show. You won't find staircases or turbine rooms or even fish ladders. :-)  The inside of a beaver LODGE would be interesting, but that's a separate structure.  Beavers don't carve rooms into their dams since that would reduce structural integrity. KevinBTheobald (talk) 20:16, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Quality issues
The citation of Wilson (1971) and Richard (1967, 1980) is inadequate without a reference list giving the detailed citation. The "natural events almanac" web page is not a reliable source. Bn (talk) 23:20, 2 December 2010 (UTC) What purports to be an exhaustive bibliography at http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/B1014.pdf includes Richard (1983) but none of the above references, and Richard (1983) is cited in many other places, e.g. http://www.springerlink.com/content/v48769740n817601/. Absent citations to the contrary, I'll revert to the finding by Richard.

Behavior section needed
This article needs a section on beavers' behavior, beyond the claim that the sound of running water is what stimulates the beavers to build dams. As a layman, I have always found this behavior to be astounding and not credible, and if I hadn't learned about it already as a child, I would have declared it impossible upon hearing about it as an adult. Is this the most complex structure built by an animal? Are there any six-million-year-old remains or other evidence that lets us date when beavers started building these crazy things? How could this complex behavior have evolved? Why are beavers the only creatures who build dams? The article cries out for answers to this type of question. Comet Tuttle (talk) 07:08, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

WikiProject Dams
If the article is in the Category Dams by Type, I am adding WikiProject Dams, even if made by animals (Beavers}, avalanches, civil engineering construction, or weather (Ice).--Dthomsen8 (talk) 08:54, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

Water table ..
One effect of beavers ponds is that they raise the ground water table significantly. eg https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eco.1923 Thanks, GerardM (talk) 13:43, 8 March 2020 (UTC)

Eurasia vs America?
Almost everything in this article is American. Are the concepts and issues identical with Eurasian beavers? Acwilson9 (talk) 21:28, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Beaver dam analog
Some people will create structures similar to beaver dams, often called "beaver dam analogs," to encourage beavers to move there and take over the dam maintenance. I've seen these in several beaver books and websites. Would it be appropriate to add a section about these to this page, or would a separate page be better? KevinBTheobald (talk) 01:14, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

Good photo for Construction?
The photo of the beaver with his tail between his legs (which seems to be all over Wikipedia), while incredibly cute, doesn't really fit the section or the article. That beaver is grooming (tail pointing forward to get at his oil glands to waterproof his fur), not constructing. A picture of a beaver with a stick in its mouth would be more appropriate. Any good PD pics? KevinBTheobald (talk) 04:37, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Science Communication
— Assignment last updated by Vonyei Fita (talk) 01:40, 31 January 2023 (UTC)