1 Logically I know that it's a dangerous nuisance.

But as an engineer I find it hard not to root for the beavers.

2

If the county wants to keep the beavers from continuing to try to work there, they're going to have to do more than just rip out the dam.

The place by the culvert where the beavers used to work isn't an attractive nuisance any longer because the county guys came in with mattocks and dug out the bottom of the creek. There used to be something of a ledge there, over which the water flowed, and that's what attracts the beavers and makes them feel like working. Any time you have rapids between banks, that's beaver heaven. Once the guys dredged out the bottom and got rid of that rapids, the beavers lost interest in it.

They'll have to do the same thing over in the park, or else the beavers will be back.

I must say that I'm glad they're not taking the easy way out by trapping the beavers and getting rid of them.

Beavers are cool, because they're the only animal species besides ourselves who make significant changes to their environment for their own benefit. And they've been doing it longer than we have.

3

The water is up maybe another 6 inches today. It's enough so that the flooding in our lawn is larger. I went and looked at the dam, and I think I can tell that the beavers were working on it again last night.

I do wonder how long it'll be before the county guys show up for their counterattack. If the water rises much further, it's going to start threatening one of the buildings in the apartment complex to the west of the park. It's already covering the walkway that runs between that complex and the park.

4 Can beavers survive over the long-term without the habit created by their dams?  Trapping and relocating the beavers might be the best alternative for them...

5

The county isn't taking out all their works, just the ones that cause trouble. The beavers need at least one pond for their lodge.

The pond isn't a food source for the beavers, it's transportation and protection. They go up on land to find vegetation to eat, and I think they can survive with just a stream. The main problem in the wild without a pond is exposure to predators, but there aren't a lot of wolves or mountain lions or bears in Beaverton.

I don't honestly know where they're living, but I do know of one of their dams that the county is leaving alone. It's been there since I moved back here two and a half years ago. I'll take a picture and post it sometime. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that is where their lodge is, but I haven't seen it. By water it's only about half a mile from my back yard. (By sidewalk it's a lot closer; it's a different branch of the stream.)