Do beavers ever get killed by their own tree takedowns?

I was out this morning and saw that a beaver had been beavering away at a tree about 30 cm in diameter. It still has a long way to go, but it got me thinking whether or not they can get killed by a tree brought down by their own work.
I know that humans can cut trees (with axe or saw) so that it falls in a certain direction, but I don’t know if beavers can. Just one of the random thoughts that enters my so called brain!

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short answer is yes, but only because felling trees is inherently dangerous for any animal. see https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2015/AugSept/Animals/Beavers.

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Interesting! Most of the larger trees that I have seen felled have fallen in the general direction of the water - in this case a river.
Is it possible that this directionality is just caused by them emerging from the water and starting on the closest side?

sounds like this calls for some literature review. if there’s no existing literature, it would make an interesting experiment.

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Wow, I didn’t know their techniques were so sophisticated

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I wish I had the link, but I don’t remember where I saw it - about a month ago I saw a picture of a beaver that died while felling a tree, as it looked like it pinned it by the neck as it fell. Pretty sad!

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Not the one I saw, but relevant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21655750

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That’s so sad! I searched and it seems to be not as rare as I thought, even a video of one with head crushed in a position of chewing, who could guess they can be so careless!

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It seems the author of the article you linked conducted such experiment, suggesting that it is indeed intentional

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Im my country we do not have much beavers. but I think trees growing near water have an non-symitrical Crown. Gravity makes the tree fall in the water, not the beaver.

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the article does describe the mechanics of how beavers intentionally fell trees in a particular direction using different cutting techniques, but i guess i was getting at how exactly they determine the direction they want it to go… is it as simple as perpendicular to the shore based on line of sight? or based on the direction they came from? or based on the sound of water? do they take more care to get the tree going in a particular direction if the tree is further away from the shore as opposed to right next to it? do they adjust for the direction of flow of the water? do they adjust so that they won’t accidentally crush their own dens? do they adjust so that the tree won’t accidentally land on one of their normal land routes? etc.?

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These are great responses - thank you all!
@pisum I’m a big fan of chance (hence my speculation about emergence from the water). No one ever accused beavers of being particularly smart!

Succesful breeding would mean the parents teach the young ones how to beaver successfully. Not like Uncle George who …

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Oh no! Don’t tell me that Uncle George is … gone.

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When we bought him from the potter - she said - some people came into her studio and said - oh look there’s Uncle George. My mother used to say we lost Uncle George (he emigrated to America and quietly forgot his family)

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I laughed out loud when I saw that!

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I believe that’s more a factor of how the tree grows and the slope of the ground.

Trees tend to lean toward the open areas if they’re growing next to other ones, which leads them to lean toward open bodies of water like rivers and lakes.

The ground also slopes down toward water, sometimes slumping a bit, both of which can also impart a lean to the trees.

I suspect that if there is a bias in what direction the trees fall that’s the reason for it, not anything intentional by beavers.

They will dig canals to transport cut branches (after felling a tree) though, so they do have some planning capacity.

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@pisum 's link up top made interesting reading. 10 years of research. Yes, it is intentional. The beavers use the slope to choose where to chew, and make the tree fall where they want it.

This impressed me!

Every night during late summer and early fall, a beaver family would spread out ashore and gnaw on several large trees simultaneously, making or deepening large circular cuts, but moving to work on new trees before completing the cuts. After a week of frantic activity, there would be plantations of large precut trees around each lake, swaying precariously in the slightest breeze. One powerful thunderstorm with gusty winds could bring all these trees down in a matter of hours, leaving ample supply for the winter cache.

Remarkably, such wind-assisted tree falls were also directional—most trees collapsed toward the water.

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I am wondering wether the beavers that get killed by the falling tree are the ones that fell it? They don’t get to shout “timber” after all, so other beavers don’t get a warning, I suppose.

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