Landslides caused by beavers

In Switzerland a section of the A1 motorway close to Courgevaux in the canton of Fribourg was closed by a landslide triggered by a beaver.  Thelocal.ch has the details:

Several tonnes of earth and rock covered the roadway early in the morning and it took a crew with earth-moving equipment until the evening to clear it up, police said.  The beaver had blocked a stream running parallel to the motorway. Pressure from the water burst a retaining wall, triggering the landslide, police said.  There was no information on what happened to the beaver.

There is also an image of the debris:-

A beaver landslide, picture from the Fribourg cantonal police via thelocal.ch

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Perhaps surprisingly this is not the first time that beavers have been responsible for landslides.  Back in July, a landslide in Likely, British Columbia in Canada was caused by the collapse of a beaver dam.  This landslide damaged a road, causing 14 properties to be cut off. Meanwhile, back in July 2014 beavers were initially blamed for causing a landslide in North Okanagan, also in BC, although after putting up a spirited defence they were subsequently vindicated.

Other posts that may be of interest:

• The sad tale of Maggie the Kakapo, the victim of a landslide
• Can toads detect forthcoming earthquakes (and landslides?)
• On the dangers of Rhododendrons!
• Now that is what I call a divot! An unusual hazard on a golf course in Switzerland
• A fatal rockslide in Switzerland with major economic impacts
• The remarkable Preonzo landslide in Switzerland last week