That means they only eat plant matter, never meat of any kind. Why do I need to get rid of beavers? When beavers cut down trees for food and for building their dams and lodges, they select the species of trees that they prefer, and leave other tree species standing. Once you have located an old beaver dam how do you get beavers to return? They fell trees by gnawing at their trunks and use the resulting sticks to construct dams to … Alan and Sandy Carey/Photodisc/Getty Images. Beavers are some of the most skillful tree fellers and dam builders on planet earth. Beavers are one of nature's architects, building elaborate dams that back up rivers and streams to create ponds and change the ecosystem around them. One can only imagine what kind of damage those teeth could inflict on any wood within reach. The dams create a pond, in the middle of which the beaver family constructs an island made of more branches. To help them hide from predators such as bears, wolves and coyotes, beavers tend to do most of their business at night. The people who are at a great likelihood of facing different beaver problems are the ones who live very near bodies of water like rivers or lakes. Beavers create their nests in trees that are in the water. Thus, water downstream of dams is cleaner and requires less treatment for human use. Photo of the "beavered-down" tree courtesy of the U.S. Aside from making cozy homes for their families and their friends, beavers play a leading role in nature's big picture when they build dams. What Kind of Damage Can Beavers Cause? Of all the beaver's behavioral characteristics, none is as legendary as its ability to cut trees for food or construction of dams and lodges. Beavers do not hibernate. Do beavers eat animals? No, beavers do not eat animals or insects. Beavers build dams to create an ideal environment for themselves and their family unit. Beavers are rodents that belong to the genus Castor. The dams create a pond, in the middle of which the beaver family constructs an island made of more branches. Beaver dams can be 3m (10ft) high and up to 500m (1,600ft) long. These dams might have been abandoned for a variety of reasons; trapped out, loss of food, predation, but the footprint of the dam remains in the brooding of a valley bottom or sometime the dam itself. But according to a new study published in Scientific Reports, these extra-large mammals did not have the same habits or diets as modern-day beavers do, meaning that Castoroides did not use its giant incisors to cut down trees and wood to make dams. They are powerful swimmers but vulnerable to attack when on land searching for food. By Naomi Millburn ... Dams give beavers some control over their locations. The island, or beaver lodge, is a perfect home where the beavers are safe from predators. And in some cold-water environments, beavers use the deep, unfrozen water in their dam's beaver pond to store branches of food trees and shrubs by digging them into the mud at the bottom of the pond.