There’s a really cool set of experiments that have been done around this. It seems it’s the sound that compels them to build.
I love that they can build it instinctually almost perfectly on the first try!
When a new generation of beavers was born, he chose a few of them to raise in isolation in order to study which of their behaviors were instinctual. He discovered that when released into running water, the young beavers built near perfect examples of dams on their first try. Wilsson then tried a different experiment where he placed the beavers in still or very slow-moving water. The subjects responded by burying themselves in the mud and making no attempts to build.
I wonder if they established a common tipping point of water flow speed that triggered the instinct.
Like…hey, I’m buried in the mud…cool cool…but suddenly I MUST build!
That would be interesting to know. And then mess with them by turning it just below and just above. Just kidding, I’d never be mean to nice beavers.
