Caged Beaver

[FWS]

No, not that Buzzard. ;D

Anybody ever use cage traps on beaver ? Not the Hancock suitcase style but a version of our standard ol' cages ? If so lets hear it.

Gotta take some out of a couple places and can't use legholds, bodygrippers or snares and the suitcase style is a bit pricey.

[Edge]

**Gotta take some out of a couple places and can't use legholds, bodygrippers or snares and the suitcase style is a bit pricey. **

Hancocks are pricey for sure......mind if I ask why you cant use anythign else?

Edge

[FWS]

State law prohibits the use of those devices for fur harvest. Cages or nets only.

[trappnman]

Here is something we tryed on otters- but would think it would work real well on beaver. We had a tunnel trap made out of ..must have been 18 inch pvc pipe. a door was added to each end, and both were dropped by the animal going over the treadle in the middle of te trap- the trap was....say 5 feet long.

Didn't get any otters- but a couple of beaver and coon.

Set in shallow channels where water was 3-6 inches deep- trap stake solid on 4 corners to prevent being rolled into deep water.

You are inventive... McGiver one...

[FWS]

Might be easier to do that with a rolled section of 2x2 welded wire and the same type of gates on my cat traps.

I'm wondering if they'll commit to a cage on land just out of the water.

[MChewk]

Don Lefler out of Carman,Ill makes a beaver cage trap that is second to none. I have caught several with it as well as many other nuisance trappers. Usually make a feed type pile of peeled sticks with a light dab of castor in back where I find beaver activity. I have two different subdivisions that require me to use this type trap.

[yota]

Chewy has the best answer here.........it still sucks tho as it is difficult to lure them in there.

One thing to always keep in mind, if you ever find a culvert between to bodies of water or under a bridge that the beaver are using.............stick a 12 by12 cage trap in there w/ no bait or lure............it works well for otter also.

[mattduncan]

build some colony traps that are 15x15 set em in the runs and you'll catch beaver i have some large ones like this and they are only made from 1x1x 14 gauge wire also some made with heavier 2x2 x 10 gauge both work good

[musher]

Local trapping association used to have a couple of homemade cages for nuisance beaver. They were round, 35 gallon barrel sized, and made out of that grid wire used to reenforce concrete. The door was a solid plate, gullitine style, except that it didn't close all the way. Stoppers were welded to that it was open about 1 inch at the bottom so the beaver wouldn't get its tail caught in the door. The trigger was a typical "animal pull on bait, which pulls on cord, which pulls on nail, which releases door." Some cross pieces were welded on the bottom of the cage so it wouldn't roll.

My experience with them was that the mesh was too large. The beaver rubbed its fur badly because it could stick its head through the grids. It was tough to get them into the cage but it was possible.

[sasquatch]

Hi Musher, We still own those two relocation cages. They work OK as long as you use very good gland lure and fresh aspen cuttings. Conibears are much better for catching nuisance beavers but when you want to relocate you have to make do with cages.

The best model (easy to set and user friendly) of beaver cage I know of is the E-ZEE SET by Bert-Ram (maker of the RAM Power Snare System). It's cheaper than the Hancock, a lot easier to set and I haven't heard of anyone accidentally drowning beavers in it. But as beaver populations expand everywhere relocation is becoming less of a viable option.