# Can a beaver actually take your arm off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269 "2006-09-03T03:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/1 "2006-09-03T03:43:52Z")
[I was reading this article](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/cat5.jpg) on [noodling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling)(the latter is the correct link-sc) and it’s claimed that some noodlers have lost arms & hands to beavers. Is this even possible? I didn’t think beavers were that big. Are[beavers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver) jaws theoretically capable of doing this? Can a big beaver take your hand off? > [@](#): > > The largest danger posed to noodlers are other forms of aquatic life found in catfish holes. By far more dangerous than catfish are beavers and snapping turtles, who will take over abandoned catfish holes as homes of their own. These animals are always on the mind of experienced noodlers. Okie Noodling provided anecdotal evidence that beavers have gnawed off the hands and arms of former noodlers, but no disabled noodlers were presented as proof . ---
**Author:** ![Lamb\_Chop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/da6949/32.png) [@Lamb\_Chop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamb_Chop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/2 "2006-09-03T03:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [I was reading this article](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/cat5.jpg) Can a big beaver take your hand off? [/QUOTE] Your _hand_? I think Freud might say that kind of [anxiety](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_dentata) is misplaced. But anyway . . . what would a beaver be doing living in a catfish hole? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/3 "2006-09-03T04:06:04Z")
Beavers can actually get pretty big - 40 - 60 lbs, and they have pretty nasty teeth. However, they don’t exactly go hunting for people, ya know? A rabid beaver could certainly attack a person, and a beaver that was cornered could certainly attack a person. That being said, I’ve never heard of a beaver attack, when you go to Banff national park (it’s crawling with beavers) they’re not actually mentioned as an animal to avoid (as opposed to bear, elk, moose, etc), and I don’t know anyone that’s ever heard of a beaver attack. So - they certainly have the teeth for it, but I’d be surprised if you could find a confirmed story of a person with a limb missing, thanks to a beaver. I’ll await others input with interest. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/4 "2006-09-03T15:14:59Z")
Beavers can’t breathe underwater, so I can’t really see them making a home in a catfish hole for any length of time. If you did happen to stick your hand in a hole containing a beaver, reason says you you would remove said hand after the first chomp by the beaver. Since beavers gnaw rather than chew, it would most likely take more than one chomp for the beaver to remove a limb Unless, of course, you held it down there and let him have at it. Just my $.02. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/5 "2006-09-03T15:18:49Z")
Alice, I think you don’t understand what noodling is. In noodling, a person would shove their hand into an underwater hole that contains (unbeknownst to the person) an angry beaver defending its nest. If you shove your open hand into a cornered beaver’s mouth, what happens next will be messy. The OP’s question is just how messy can it get. I agree with you that in other scenario beavers are not fearsome hunters-of-man to be avaoided at all costs. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/6 "2006-09-03T15:39:53Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [I was reading this article](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/cat5.jpg) on noodling… . [/QUOTE] You were doing nothing of the kind. You were looking at a 50 pound pussy! :eek: Can I fix your link for you? **samclem** ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/7 "2006-09-03T15:53:24Z")
Take off a finger? Probably. Severely damage a hand? Probably. Take off a hand or an arm? Probably not, unless the appendage had to be removed due to gangrene or other complicatiosn. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/8 "2006-09-03T16:41:23Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] You were doing nothing of the kind. You were looking at a 50 pound pussy! :eek: Can I fix your link for you? **samclem** [/QUOTE] Yes please! [Here is the noodling link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling) More [noodling](http://www.cabelas.com/information/cabelas-field-guides/Catfish-Techniques/Noodling-for-Catfish-The-Ultimate-Thrill-in-Fishing.html) [Here is a catfish (not the cat)](http://home.comcast.net/~cpeek001/catfishBNP_350x300.jpg) [Video Action](http://www.okienoodling.com/film/trailer.html) from the film [Okie Noodling](http://www.okienoodling.com/film/) ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/9 "2006-09-03T18:55:04Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy] If you shove your open hand into a cornered beaver’s mouth, what happens next will be messy. The OP’s question is just how messy can it get. [/QUOTE] No - I kind of got that (although I have no idea what the appeal of that particular hobby would be). However, as **SnakesCatLady** suggested, you’d get a nasty bite for sure, but a beaver just isn’t going to be ripping your arm off. I’d bet that as soon as you pulled your arm away the beaver would pretty much leave you alone and go back to smacking it’s tail and guarding it’s babies, as opposed to chowing down, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/10 "2006-09-03T18:59:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Can a beaver actually take your arm off? Well, it can take your **leg** off. If, you’re like, a Pirate & stuff. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-beaver-actually-take-your-arm-off/371269/11 "2006-09-03T19:03:00Z")
It turns out that googling for "beaver bite"may not be your best option here.