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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Beavers are back in the streams and lakes of South Carolina and they've been as busy as, well, beavers.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Tuesday that beavers were not seen often a generation ago after they had been hunted almost to extinction in the early 1900s.

But now the rodents have recovered and are causing problems as they dam small streams.

Beavers are being found in every South Carolina county and the Department of Natural Resources is getting a steady stream of complaints. A one-foot high beaver mud dam can flood as much as 100 acres.

So far this year in Dorchester County, a two-man public works crew has broken up about 200 beaver dams and trapped about 40 beavers after residents complained about flooding.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)