[almostthere]

They are reaking havok on my aunts property and the DNR guy said that we could only trap them until march and then we could get a permit to hunt. Its mostly wetlands, and apparently they have found thier little slice of heaven, much to my aunt's dismay. DH is very handy about making things and I'm sure he could fasten a trap rather easily if it is allowed by the DNR. Any ideas would be appreciated!!!

 

[big rockpile]

You should be able to find a Trapper,Beaver are bringing good price.Could use Snare or Kill type Trap.

Probably will only catch Mama and babies,the Old Boar is hard to catch.

big rockpile

 

[comfortablynumb]

why not embrace the ol bevers and let em build you a fish pond....
stock it with catfish and bluegill and bass. the beverinos will keep the pond maintained and the fish will feed ya.

get some geese and ducks to join in and reep the eggs and meat.
then you can whack the surplus bevers every now and then for a little profit.
wish I had some bever.... and a stream... and space to let em do their thingy, Id be in heaven... pond builders, fish and ducks&geese, a rowboat and an umbrella, and a full day of floating around rustling up dinner...
your blessed, spare the bever...

 

[Alex]

Remove the food and they will go. Remove food if possible for 500 feet each side of their water source.

Alex

They will make a mess, flood your land, and cause damage. Get them to leave if you can.

 

[Hoop]

You can likely purchase used beaver traps for $10 (more or less) in your area. If you can't find any locally, purchase them on Ebay. As handy as your husband may be......re-inventing the wheel over a $10 item doesn't seem to be a fair trade off.

You'll need several traps. In Wisconsin, you need to attach a name tag to the trap and purchase a trapping license. Your location may have similar regulations.

The price for beaver pelts is hideous. Trends in fashion and the European ban on US hides (they claim leg hold traps are inhumane---another story) have seen the price plummet since the 70's.
Around here in Northern Wisconsin, where the beavers grow a hearty lush winter coat, prices average less than $12/hide. For the record, prices averaged $20+/pelt during the depression of the 30's.

 

[almostthere]

My aunt said to sell the pelts, but not having done that before I didnt realize they could be profitable. The beavers have really torn up her property, its past the point of a ''cute little pond" stage. Her property winds in and out of the end of a huge creek, and they are worried about flooding as well as property damage to her buildings. We have been looking into buying traps, thats probably what we will do. And he really is handy, most Sheet Metal Workers tend to be that way, but maybe a trap might be too time consuming and not worth the effort.

 

[comfortablynumb]

well true you cant have em flooding your house...
around here we have "pond bevers" who take up housekeeping in local ponds and lakes, and build a lodge on a bank or just offshore, I dont know how "normal" that is but theyre are quite a few here.
too bad you cant box trap the lil guys and dump them on some remote pond or lakeside.....
well, you can always move your house... (see thats another advantage to a mobile home trailer... its MOBILE. LOL)
how about blasting their dam? maybe if you irritate them enough they will leave?
didnt think so....
if your gonna kill em, please shoot em, and be sharp with your aim, legholds are not very pleasant.

 

[almostthere]

Its not a mobile, so moving wont be an option. And the property has been hers for about 25 plus years, shes quite attached to it, wont sell. The beavers are just one big annoyance, there have been worse things happen. Dh is good about being humane about a kill. Thanks for the advice tho, its always importanat to remember to be humane. I remembering spending time out there when I was a kid, going fishing with my uncle when he was alive. The outhouse, the chickens and the bus redone into a camper. Its a nice place. Even now, when I get a scent of that ''river smell" I get a bit misty eyed. I cant blame her for not wanting to leave.

 

[owhn]

Beaver management will be difficult, but there are choices:

Habitat denial
1) Food removal
Removing (logging) desirable trees 50 to 100 yeards from edge of pond
2) Pond reduction
Beaver pipes (homemade), Clemson pond leveller (Clemson Univ. Ag. Department), or Control Structure (Agri Drain Corporation ... commerical product)

Bever reduction
3) Trapping, live
Tomahawk
4) Trapping, terminal
Conibear 330.


Governmental resources:
State USDA/APHIS (Animal Health and Inspection Servcice, Animal Damage Control) office
State Fish and Wildlife Department

Recommended reading: Earth Pond books by Tim Matson

be advised, most folks are "beaver preservationsists"

good luck. let us know how things work.


owhn

 

[Alex]

From another post of mine,

They will flood your land and remove all trees within about 500 feet of the water. They will make a mess of all standing trees. Not a good idea.

Bigger Than 5 Acres They Were Extending This Pond Into The Field Then They Would Have Flooded about 20 to 40 acres of field.

Big Mess Every Where

Cut Big Trees No Problem

Do you want that? The Beavers are gone from our land, we had the driest year in 45 years - they left on their own - good. We cleared the land near the creek, and turned it and their old ponds into field. Don't want to see any Beavers on our land or our neighbours.

Alex

From my most recent post on this tuff subject,

I broke their main dam (they had three main dams on one-half mile of creek, with up to three "check" or down-stream dams at each main dam) four times myself with loader - spent hours. Yes, I figured out how they did it. But What took me two to three hours to do with the loader (I was only working on their main dam), they built back overnight!

Next I lowered their pond water level and installed a "Pond Leveller" in an attempt to "Live-With-Them". That didn't work, they figured it out and blocked it.

I Even Constructed A "Level Control Pipe System" to let them stay, yet not flood our field - didn't work - they figured it out.

Then we hired a bigger back-hoe three times, within a week - back again!

Next a huge tracked back-hoe was working on the neighbours Quarter Section, he came over and dug two huge creek - alternatives, we paid "big bucks" for this big "hoe". Then their main pond dried, because of the digging and the driest years - as mentioned above.

Then we paid for a D-7 cat to clear both sides of the creek, remove four other now unused houses, and about six secondary house, and lots of "runs". The cat then cleared and "broke" the surrounding land with a breaking plow, and/or breaking disc, and ditched the creek.

Sure we got some good land from their fertile 5 to 10 acre main pond. And we got rid of some bad looking dead trees (that about three years ago where huge beautiful poplar trees - that they killed and made look like swamp land - which is what our whole Quarter was heading for).

They are gone - only due to the dry weather. If we hadn't taken the trees - poplar and willow away - they would come back when the water came back next year.

Beaver Pond Now, Cleared, Piled, Ready for Burning!

Nice Ditch-Creek (Which Has Not Dried In 45 Years - Until This Year) , We Will Farm Right Up To The Ditch-Creek No Beavers!

Alex