Paddy
Veteran Member
can you pack up a few of those guys, I need some tree clearing?
Beaver has killed at least 8-Trees in a few weeks
- Thread starter Beltzington
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cqaigy2
Super Member
I'm all for live and let live, but my guess is your logic is flawed. You are ok with loosing a few trees out of hundreds but you would not be ok with something cutting down your favorite shade tree in your front yard. If I am wrong just post a listing of free firewood all you want just come on by. I assume you don't kill spiders and snakes for your same altruistic reasons.
I don't think his logic is flawed, he just doesn't think killing a beaver is the solution. That's his purgative. My guess is that his property wasn't cleared of all trees and brush, before moving on to it, which is typical. Then people plant their special trees and get upset when they are damaged or killed.
My special trees are fruit trees, it put up fence to keep pest away. I don't normally kill spiders and snakes, they typically aren't dangerous here and i don't fear them as some do.
murse72
Bronze Member
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At least you dont have them digging into your pond levees. At first I thought it was nutria rat but it turn out to be beavers
MossRoad
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Many of us have seen muskrats do that kind of damage.
dmccarty
Super Star Member
I had land, since sold, that had hundreds of trees destroyed by beavers. Some of the trees were eaten but most died from flooding. Not a big fan of beavers. If one has a beaver pond, a pond leveler will drain the pond and the beavers will leave. The beavers can't figure out how to prevent the water loss from the pond leveler and without a pond, they leave. Worked on the land I used to own.
The leveler is cheap to make from PVC.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/publications/pdf/ClemsonBeaverPondLeveler.pdf
Later,
Dan
The leveler is cheap to make from PVC.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/publications/pdf/ClemsonBeaverPondLeveler.pdf
Later,
Dan
oosik
Epic Contributor
I have a family of beavers that moved onto my lake about three or four years ago. They built a low dam on the outlet that helps maintain a constant lake level. The ONLY tree within a mile or so of the lake is the big weeping willow we planted 35+ years ago. They are doing a great job pruning the lower branches on that. Fortunately, the beaver don't seem to like big 'ol pine trees.
I'm pretty sure they eat the bulbous roots of my cattails also. For me - they are a definite plus. View attachment 583916 Way down at the far end of the lake - circled in red - the beaver house.
I'm pretty sure they eat the bulbous roots of my cattails also. For me - they are a definite plus. View attachment 583916 Way down at the far end of the lake - circled in red - the beaver house.
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PILOON
Super Star Member
Our lake is just short of 1 mile long.
We have no entry streams but it all spring fed (nice pure water).
Our exit is a 12 ft or so "V" in a rock formation and being a V the water level is nicely controlled by mother nature.
In normal conditions the lake level never varies more than about 8 inches with the high being during spring thaw.
Being in a very natural wilderness location beavers are one of the common wildlife.
Them critters will team up and build a dam overnight!
Years back the city donated an old 8" galvanized culvert (about 26 ft long) that we installed under the dam.
Until that culvert simply rotted out it controlled the lake level just fine.
From 50 years of experience I can comment that best time to 'hunt' them is just at nightfall and just after you demolish their dam as that is when they show up as a work party to repair it. Forget a shotgun the ideal weapon is a .22 and some like to tape a flashlight to their barrel for later evening results.
Good hunting!
We have no entry streams but it all spring fed (nice pure water).
Our exit is a 12 ft or so "V" in a rock formation and being a V the water level is nicely controlled by mother nature.
In normal conditions the lake level never varies more than about 8 inches with the high being during spring thaw.
Being in a very natural wilderness location beavers are one of the common wildlife.
Them critters will team up and build a dam overnight!
Years back the city donated an old 8" galvanized culvert (about 26 ft long) that we installed under the dam.
Until that culvert simply rotted out it controlled the lake level just fine.
From 50 years of experience I can comment that best time to 'hunt' them is just at nightfall and just after you demolish their dam as that is when they show up as a work party to repair it. Forget a shotgun the ideal weapon is a .22 and some like to tape a flashlight to their barrel for later evening results.
Good hunting!
oosik
Epic Contributor
On three separate occasions I have enjoyed watching destroyed dams being repaired. They are consummate engineers. The old notion that - "there, we've torn it down, now they will leave" - is a fools notion. Who do you think built it. They are not only expert in dam building, but on a repair - they have the knowledge of how it was constructed, in the first place.
oosik
Epic Contributor
Just a mile up the county road is a small stream - Damage Cr. Flows only until about mid-July. Several years ago a family of beavers moved into the area upstream of the county road. City folks were making the trip to watch the beavers slowly but surely block the culverts on the up stream side. For whatever reason, it didn't seem to upset the beavers - they had a built in cheering crowd.
All was going well until the day the county road collapsed/sunk about three feet right where the culvert passed under.
So, here comes the county - pulled all the logs, brush, crap out of the culvert. Stacked neatly on the stream bank - up stream side. Great effort to repair the road. The beavers had all the materials back "in place" by the following morning.
Somebody, finally, got wise and the Game Dept came out, trapped the beavers and relocated them to the local Wildlife Refuge.
That incident was the most repair the county has done on our county road in a long time.
All was going well until the day the county road collapsed/sunk about three feet right where the culvert passed under.
So, here comes the county - pulled all the logs, brush, crap out of the culvert. Stacked neatly on the stream bank - up stream side. Great effort to repair the road. The beavers had all the materials back "in place" by the following morning.
Somebody, finally, got wise and the Game Dept came out, trapped the beavers and relocated them to the local Wildlife Refuge.
That incident was the most repair the county has done on our county road in a long time.
^^^^
Too true. They had a culvert plugged on one of our main haul roads. We were having a dry spell so it wasn't hurting the road and I didn't want to pay to have them removed, instead tearing the dam out every time that I went through. I finally called the ADC agent who trapped the beaver and cleaned the culvert. it wasn't until later that I realized there was another culvert which was in the main channel; they had piled so much onto it that I thought it was part of the stream bank.
Too true. They had a culvert plugged on one of our main haul roads. We were having a dry spell so it wasn't hurting the road and I didn't want to pay to have them removed, instead tearing the dam out every time that I went through. I finally called the ADC agent who trapped the beaver and cleaned the culvert. it wasn't until later that I realized there was another culvert which was in the main channel; they had piled so much onto it that I thought it was part of the stream bank.
