Ever Fed Wood To A Beaver?

[dave1949]

No, not that :laughing:

Beavers took up residence again in my beaver bog. They had been gone for about 5 years. They have been busy and managed to create a small pool at least five feet deep already. I know, because I slipped into it while trying to spot the beavers.

I like having the beavers around and they cause me no problems.

My question is this -- If I cut some small birch and poplar trees and leave them by the pool, do you think the beavers will eat or use them? Weather permitting, I'm going to try it tomorrow. I will get some pics. No, not those.
Dave.

 

[Tig]

I often throw large cut branches on the shore to dry a bit before burning. The other day the beaver chomped some off while we were having dinner at the picnic table 20' away.
Give it a try, they may like the easy Pickens.

 

[tcreeley]

We've had a family 1/4 mile down the road on and off. Every so often someone complains and they live trap them, or somebody shoots one. Trappers are also pretty active around here. I think beavers improve land!

 

[massey990]

Sweet Birch branches are like bubble gum/candy to them, they love it.

 

[trailbuilder]

The Beavers won't care if you cut the wood or if they do; they will eat it or store it away either way. They do enjoy Popple (Aspen) up North. Birch is their second choice here it seems.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

As long as it's fresh cut, they should like it. They actually eat the bark and shoots, park it in the water to keep it moist and easy to digest. They love willow too.

 

[dave1949]

We've had a family 1/4 mile down the road on and off. Every so often someone complains and they live trap them, or somebody shoots one. Trappers are also pretty active around here. I think beavers improve land!

My main reason for liking to have the beavers around is their pools produce huge numbers of dragon flies. The dragon flies spread out over my lot and reduce the mosquito population considerably. Dragon fly larva need plant stems that emerge from water to hatch well.

The stream the beavers work with begins as a trickle about one mile up a slope from the beaver pool area and collects runoff and ground water from a good sized area. The stream runs across the back of our lot far from anything that matters.

When the beavers left about 5 years ago, I think it was because they had exhausted the supply of good food trees. They were working on beech trees that were 16" in diameter. I don't think beech is a tree they really like, so they were getting desperate I guess. I was surprised to see the beavers back so soon really. It doesn't seem like there is enough new regrowth to keep them here very long.

Year-old beavers are driven out of their home ponds by their parents. They go in search of a new place to build. In this area, that means picking a location with enough water flow to dam and build a lodge in, the land has to lay right to make a pond that won't freeze to the bottom, and food trees for at least one winter. That's a pretty amazing instinctual process if you think about it. Imagine trying to figure that out for yourself while keeping your head 2' or less above the ground.

Beavers are ecosystem foundation builders for sure.
Dave.

 

[20 20]

Dave1949; sounds like a fun pass time{watching the beavers} we had one come in a couple years back and hang out in our pond for a few weeks. My son and his dog even swam in the pond while the beaver hung out on the back side.

 

[tcartwri]

Why would anyone want to attract beavers.....

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Why would anyone want to attract beavers.....

Well, there's that. You can save your fruit trees by wrapping the base in sheet metal or even chicken wire.

 

[MikeD74T]

Well, there's that. You can save your fruit trees by wrapping the base in sheet metal or even chicken wire.

And feeding the beavers a dose of lead!!! I've never seen land improved by beavers. Miked74T

 

[xtn]

Beaver took my wife's new willow tree. Just planted it for her about two weeks prior. 1.5" max diameter. Chewed off about six or seven inches off the ground. Wife was upset. I feigned being upset too.

xtn

 

[dave1949]

My beaver area is far from my house or anything I plant. I could see the aggravation of a beaver flooding a road or taking down your fruit trees.

It is a long process, probably measured in centuries and comings and goings of beaver over time, but I think beavers do 'improve' land, by human standards.

Picture a typical New England drainage stream following the low ground. Probably running on a rock bed all the way. A beaver dam will catch silt and organic matter in that stream which will be deposited in their pond bottom. When that goes on long enough, eventually you end up with rich tillable ground next to a stream where there was none before. From a human stand point, that is an improvement.

From a ecosystem perspective, that pond is a previously non-existent habitat type created by beavers. That means many different plant and tree types will grow, there will be more and different insects and their larva, ducks and other birds, frogs, fish, turtles, snakes and all the things that feed on them. The end result is biological diversity where there was little to begin with.

If and when beavers abandon their ponds, the area slowly drains and dries out as their dams deteriorate to become a fairly level beaver meadow; something that would not naturally occur within a forested area, and yet another habitat type which supports more biological diversity or agriculture.

I would guess that much of the good bottom land along rivers in New England is a result of beaver dams. Natural log blockages would play a role also. The fish and wildlife folks in Maine are seeding some small rivers with partial log blocks/snags to promote native trout reproduction. That would be the river's natural condition before the logging days when dams were built to store enough water to support log drives which scoured the rivers out. Plus the log snags would have been cut out to allow the logs to get down river.

Dave.

 

[jonyyuma]

Beavers also build into the run-out on a lake, then the rains will breach the earthen levee around it..They sure are some crafty engineers, can build on rock as slick as concrete and raise a pond by 3 feet. That is a lot of water pressure, but i wonder where they carry the rocks and mud for the patches.? We had to use the Fel to tear it out ..

 

[clemsonfor]

We've had a family 1/4 mile down the road on and off. Every so often someone complains and they live trap them, or somebody shoots one. Trappers are also pretty active around here. I think beavers improve land!

You obviously have not had any timber damaged buy them before. Beavers are the number one cause of timber damage in this state. To the tune of a million plus dollars of stumpage each year!


To the Op im sure they will eat it. You are fine with them as its a low area and nothing in there anyway it sounds like. But imagine them flooding 10 acres of your 10 year old pine trees after chewing down a 1/4 acre of them that you had an establishment cost of $300/acre and had been carring that investment foward for those 10 years. The backed up water kills your trees you loose your $300/acre and 10 years worth of growth. Not every one likes the little devils!

 

[dave1949]

You obviously have not had any timber damaged buy them before. Beavers are the number one cause of timber damage in this state. To the tune of a million plus dollars of stumpage each year!


To the Op im sure they will eat it. You are fine with them as its a low area and nothing in there anyway it sounds like. But imagine them flooding 10 acres of your 10 year old pine trees after chewing down a 1/4 acre of them that you had an establishment cost of $300/acre and had been carring that investment foward for those 10 years. The backed up water kills your trees you loose your $300/acre and 10 years worth of growth. Not every one likes the little devils!

Nope, I wouldn't like that at all.

There isn't much there of real commercial value. It is all natural regeneration, mixed hard and soft woods. The beech, like all beech around here, is infested with beech bark disease which is eventually fatal and makes the wood worthless due to the rot it causes.

That is why it is a good place to let nature be nature, and that is priceless.
Dave.

 

[clemsonfor]

I would guess that much of the good bottom land along rivers in New England is a result of beaver dams. Natural log blockages would play a role also. The fish and wildlife folks in Maine are seeding some small rivers with partial log blocks/snags to promote native trout reproduction. That would be the river's natural condition before the logging days when dams were built to store enough water to support log drives which scoured the rivers out. Plus the log snags would have been cut out to allow the logs to get down river.

Dave.

Kind of see what you say on the first part. But this last part i left has nothing to do with beavers and all to do with larger older trees naturally falling into a stream/river. Beavers dont place random trees and leave them forever. This is to recreate couse woody debris falling into a stream, which yes beavers can do as well.

 

[dave1949]

Kind of see what you say on the first part. But this last part i left has nothing to do with beavers and all to do with larger older trees naturally falling into a stream/river. Beavers dont place random trees and leave them forever. This is to recreate couse woody debris falling into a stream, which yes beavers can do as well.

I didn't want to say that all bottom lands are created by beavers, they aren't. Natural log falls contribute too by causing changes in the flow which if continues, results in cutting new bank on one side and silt accumulation on the other. The classic meandering oxbows of a mature river valley - before the Army Corps of Engineers 'fixes' it :laughing:
Dave.

 

[Mounted Madness]

A truly provocative title, er...topic, to say the least.

 

[jonyyuma]

The Bummer was, The beaver cut down all the good trees to sit under while catfishing...The ones closest to the bank, and only gurdled several others.l