1.   Beaver dams last for decades.

2.   But people having problems with beaver dams and lodges should proceed with caution.

3.   Combined with the growth of the suburbs, that means more deer-car collisions, more coyotes eating pets, and more beaver dams flooding basements.

4.   Even as problems increase with the population growth, damaging a beaver dam without a permit is as great a violation of the law as destruction of wetlands itself.

5.   In Massachusetts, beaver dams threaten hundreds of septic tanks and wells annually.

6.   Instead, they may find themselves knee-deep in mud, clearing a beaver dam that is choking a waterway, doing push-ups or running a few laps.

7.   Mellinger told me she has seen the paper plant blooms stuck in beaver dams.

8.   Tierra del Fuego guides love to show visitors beaver dams.

9.   Authorities are investigating whether run-off from area farms may be to blame or whether a beaver dam discovered in the creek could have played a role.

10.   They can rake out a beaver dam then try to capture the responsible beavers.