Beaver dams are dams built by beavers as protection against predators such as coyotes, wolves, and bears, and to provide easy access to food during winter. Beavers work at night and are prolific builders, carrying mud and stones with their fore-paws and timber between their teeth. Beavers can rebuild primary dams overnight, though they may not defend secondary dams as vigorously.

Samuel Hearne wrote: "their dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a great force both of ice and water; and as the willow, poplar and birch generally take root and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of regular planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall that birds have built their nests among the branches."^{[citation needed]}

It is primarily a prolonged exposure to the sound of water in motion that stimulates the beavers to build. However, studies involving beaver habitual activities have indicated that beavers may respond to an array of stimuli (such as seeing water movement), not just the sound of running water. In two experiments Wilson and Richard (1967, 1980)^{[Full citation needed]} demonstrate that, although beavers will pile material close to a loudspeaker emitting sounds of water running, they only do so after a considerable period of time. Additionally the beavers, when faced with a pipe allowing water to pass through their dam, eventually stopped the flow of water by plugging the pipe with mud and sticks. The beavers were observed to do this even when the pipe extended several meters upstream and near the bottom of the stream and thus produced no sound of running water. Beavers normally repair damage to the dam and build it higher as long as the sound continues. However, in times of high water, they often allow spillways in the dam to flow freely.

The Beaver Dam Wash is a seasonal stream near the southwestern Utah-Nevada border. At its southern end in northern Arizona, near the point where it empties into the Virgin River, the stream flows throughout the year. Part of the wash is in the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area, managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The wash occupies a transition zone among the Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert ecosystems. Like all such zones, this area supports diverse vegetative communities and a rich array of wildlife. The wash begins in the Clover Mountains in Lincoln County, Nevada and flows south across very sparsely populated desert terrain. The area around the wash, including a number of protected wilderness areas, includes forests of Joshua trees along with other yuccas, cholla cactus, barrel cactus, Mormon Tea, and other grasses and shrubs are the primary vegetation in the area.

Animal life in the area consists of a variety of lizards, mammals, birds, and insects, and other creatures found in the Mojave Desert. The lower elevations provide designated critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise and other native species, such as desert bighorn sheep, gila monster, and mojave rattlesnake.

Washed Out is the stage name of the American electronic musician Ernest Greene (born in 1983, Perry, Georgia).

After earning an undergraduate degree from the The University of Georgia, Greene graduated in 2009 with a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of South Carolina and was unable to find a job as a librarian. Greene moved back home to the rural town of Perry, Georgia and started producing songs in his bedroom studio. He soon won the favor of a number of influential music bloggers after they found his music on his MySpace page. His style has been identified with the Chillwave movement. He has identified hip hop as influencing the way he writes songs. The first two Washed Out EPs were released in August and September 2009. Washed Out made his debut New York City performance (his second live show ever) at Santos Party House. He has since performed at the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival and his song "Feel it All Around" is featured in the opening sequence of the TV series Portlandia.