Signs of the Beaver
About two weeks ago, while hiking through the Höllental Valley (Lower Austria) along the Schwarza River, we were surprised to stumble upon an area showing clear signs of recent beaver activity. We had never encountered anything like this in the region before.The damage appeared incredibly fresh - some trees seemed to have been gnawed just hours or perhaps a day earlier. There were even bright red blood stains on the exposed wood, suggesting possible injury to the beavers during their work. Several trees had already been felled, while others were barely standing, supported by only a few centimeters of remaining wood. This unexpected sighting of active beavers, complete with those eerie blood marks, left us amazed at the raw intensity of their efforts in this stunning valley.
I know this well enough from Canada. The area I lived in Lethbridge, Alberta, had lots of beavers in the Oldman River valley. There, the city covered the bottom of the tree trunks with layers of chicken wire. At least the ones that are close to the water. So have you seen any beaver dams?
The worlds largest beaver dam is actually in Alberta, where I lived - and I had been to the Wood Buffalo National Park, but in winter, and there are no roads into it, a area larger than Switzerland. I was at Fort Smith, the gateway to the park.
I don't see how they could possibly build any dams there. The trees they brought down didn't fall into the river.
then they are not very smart beavers. Just doing mischief, but they do eat bark and the soft wood just under the bark. Without a beaverdam, where do they live? Probably at the side of the river in a riverbank lodge and not at a dam (they build a dam to control flow and build a pool, but don't live in the dam): https://birdsandwild.com/where-do-beavers-live/