Post by Steve Gappa on Jan 5, 2005 9:27:00 GMT -6
Problem Beavers… by Steve Gappa
Back when I was a kid, we had very few beaver around. The season was closed for many years and finally reopened under a limited season in the late 50’s. First beaver I ever saw was one my dad had trapped- and I can remember that it looked enormous. Probably was, after not being harvested for so many seasons. Slowly the beaver populations expanded and many areas of the state have all the beaver that they need- and then some! But where I live it’s somewhat of an different story. On the Mississippi River there are a lot of beaver- but in the hills surrounding the River where I trap, beaver are few and far between. Much of the water is trout streams- cold, clear limestone creeks- a lot of private water- and the beaver aren’t welcome. Most of the time when I get called into an area to remove the beaver- it’s usually only a startup type colony or a singleton that has set up shop. Since the type of beaver activity that usually gets them noticed and in trouble- cutting trees, building dams and feed piles- occurs in late summer or early Fall- I can usually talk the landowners in to letting me wait until Fall. I like that scenario- cause I still have a fascination with beaver and prefer to use them if possible. The downfall with waiting however is that many times by the time I get called or get to the area- someone else has come in, taken a few beaver and spooked the rest.
Such was the case this year when a landowner came up to me at a bridge stop in late Fall while I was water trapping. I had met him before and knew he liked to putter with beaver trapping a little. He said that there were beaver behind his house, and the DNR wanted them out and would I do it. I asked him why he didn’t trap them himself, and he indicated he had trapped a couple and didn’t want to mess with them any further. Hmmmmmn. Sure, why not- as long as I was close and could drive in to the fields. I had followed this trapper a few times before, and knew that he trapped 100% with 330s. I figured that was my advantage- I like using footholds. He didn’t tell me how many or what type of beaver he had taken, but said he thought there were 2-4 beaver left to take.
The location only had 1 dam- far below any cutting or activity area. Inspection showed no recent work and the dam was getting shoddy and in disrepair. The creek for several hundred yards upstream was deep, slow water- so a dam really wasn’t all that key to the beavers survival. Un-kept dams often mean just a few older beaver are present- young ones or complete families usually keep the dam in pretty good repair, so I figured I was dealing with an adult population. Upstream about 150 yards was a big pool at the bottom of a fast rapids- and in the bend there was a bank house and a feed pile. No way to get close to either- but about 50 yards upstream from the house was a ledge creating a shallow area that I was able to access- so I put in 3 castor mound sets- bang, bang, bang about 25 feet apart. I figured that these beaver had seen their share of 330s- and any obvious or even setable place had probably long been done. Tom Olson has made me a believer in castor mounds- and I have to say they are a mainstay where 3 years ago I almost never made one. BTW- if it isn’t a castor mound, it’s a blind set. I just like footholds! I figured 3 castor mound sets should do the ticket. Sets went in quick and easy- tomorrow would tell the story.
As I was driving home, I was thinking of a problem beaver that I had a few years ago. It was an odd incident- I had heard of this happening, but never saw it before or since- and that is when a colony will up and move- the whole clan, mom, pop, kids and cousins. Caused by habitat changes one would assume. This colony had moved in on a creek that had never had beaver at that location before. The creek was about a foot to 18 inches deep- pure sand bottom, bordered by big trees. I trap it for coon and mink yearly, and the fall and late winter before there had been no sign of any beaver- now in a 100 yard stretch there were 7 dams and a huge bank house- plus some dens. This was several years ago when I had less beaverin’ experience - so I did what I always did- set up about 15 traps at every possible location. And it worked- sort of. First check had 4 beaver- bunch of snapped traps and a big toenail from a rear foot at the end of a twisted up slide wire. Second and third checks- 4 more beaver, a few snapped traps, and another big toenail. Funny thing was- none of the 8 beaver I had taken was missing a toenail. So that meant I had pinched a big one- twice.
I kept my traps in for another week or ten days- with no action whatsoever. The pools had cleared up, and no activity was to be seen. Both the landowner and I figured the beaver had moved on. That being the case, the owner wanted to tear out the dams and since he was retired man and a friend, I volunteered to help. Briefly- tearing out 7 beaver dams with a potato fork is a long, hard day. But we did accomplish what we wanted- to get the stream flowing to its normal depth and clarity. I continued to trap it for mink and coon- and one day about 2 weeks after pulling the dams, there was a fresh cutting. Either the beaver was still there or another had moved in. This occurred around the end of November. Well folks- I battled that singleton beaver during December, during January, during March, during most of April- all to no avail. Nowadays I’d do things entirely different- but remember, this was years ago. Actually, this experience taught me a lot about how to spook beaver and their reactions to being spooked. Seriously- it was a real eye-opener. But back then, I just kept plugging away. I would see where the beaver was coming out- but I soon found out that lured and baited sets were out. Any such set was totally ignored. We had pulled all of the dams- so crossovers and pullouts were no longer a factor. I also found ANY construction of sets, guide sticks, etc- put him off. I even found that if he came and made a cutting- if I walked down that bank to make a set- he would never return. If I didn’t set it up, of course he would return until he was done. I became a firm believer and have seen proof of this time and again- that spooked beaver react to your scent and certainly to any disturbance that they themselves didn’t do. Conibears were a joke. The only deep water was where he was denning up. This was the one big deep water hole on the creek- under an old tree root system- impossible to access or trap. And at any other location, the 330s would be sticking out of the water and avoided. This was a very close by location, so I didn’t mind messing around TOO much…but was starting to wonder if I would be able to catch the beaver or not.
Back when I was a kid, we had very few beaver around. The season was closed for many years and finally reopened under a limited season in the late 50’s. First beaver I ever saw was one my dad had trapped- and I can remember that it looked enormous. Probably was, after not being harvested for so many seasons. Slowly the beaver populations expanded and many areas of the state have all the beaver that they need- and then some! But where I live it’s somewhat of an different story. On the Mississippi River there are a lot of beaver- but in the hills surrounding the River where I trap, beaver are few and far between. Much of the water is trout streams- cold, clear limestone creeks- a lot of private water- and the beaver aren’t welcome. Most of the time when I get called into an area to remove the beaver- it’s usually only a startup type colony or a singleton that has set up shop. Since the type of beaver activity that usually gets them noticed and in trouble- cutting trees, building dams and feed piles- occurs in late summer or early Fall- I can usually talk the landowners in to letting me wait until Fall. I like that scenario- cause I still have a fascination with beaver and prefer to use them if possible. The downfall with waiting however is that many times by the time I get called or get to the area- someone else has come in, taken a few beaver and spooked the rest.
Such was the case this year when a landowner came up to me at a bridge stop in late Fall while I was water trapping. I had met him before and knew he liked to putter with beaver trapping a little. He said that there were beaver behind his house, and the DNR wanted them out and would I do it. I asked him why he didn’t trap them himself, and he indicated he had trapped a couple and didn’t want to mess with them any further. Hmmmmmn. Sure, why not- as long as I was close and could drive in to the fields. I had followed this trapper a few times before, and knew that he trapped 100% with 330s. I figured that was my advantage- I like using footholds. He didn’t tell me how many or what type of beaver he had taken, but said he thought there were 2-4 beaver left to take.
The location only had 1 dam- far below any cutting or activity area. Inspection showed no recent work and the dam was getting shoddy and in disrepair. The creek for several hundred yards upstream was deep, slow water- so a dam really wasn’t all that key to the beavers survival. Un-kept dams often mean just a few older beaver are present- young ones or complete families usually keep the dam in pretty good repair, so I figured I was dealing with an adult population. Upstream about 150 yards was a big pool at the bottom of a fast rapids- and in the bend there was a bank house and a feed pile. No way to get close to either- but about 50 yards upstream from the house was a ledge creating a shallow area that I was able to access- so I put in 3 castor mound sets- bang, bang, bang about 25 feet apart. I figured that these beaver had seen their share of 330s- and any obvious or even setable place had probably long been done. Tom Olson has made me a believer in castor mounds- and I have to say they are a mainstay where 3 years ago I almost never made one. BTW- if it isn’t a castor mound, it’s a blind set. I just like footholds! I figured 3 castor mound sets should do the ticket. Sets went in quick and easy- tomorrow would tell the story.
As I was driving home, I was thinking of a problem beaver that I had a few years ago. It was an odd incident- I had heard of this happening, but never saw it before or since- and that is when a colony will up and move- the whole clan, mom, pop, kids and cousins. Caused by habitat changes one would assume. This colony had moved in on a creek that had never had beaver at that location before. The creek was about a foot to 18 inches deep- pure sand bottom, bordered by big trees. I trap it for coon and mink yearly, and the fall and late winter before there had been no sign of any beaver- now in a 100 yard stretch there were 7 dams and a huge bank house- plus some dens. This was several years ago when I had less beaverin’ experience - so I did what I always did- set up about 15 traps at every possible location. And it worked- sort of. First check had 4 beaver- bunch of snapped traps and a big toenail from a rear foot at the end of a twisted up slide wire. Second and third checks- 4 more beaver, a few snapped traps, and another big toenail. Funny thing was- none of the 8 beaver I had taken was missing a toenail. So that meant I had pinched a big one- twice.
I kept my traps in for another week or ten days- with no action whatsoever. The pools had cleared up, and no activity was to be seen. Both the landowner and I figured the beaver had moved on. That being the case, the owner wanted to tear out the dams and since he was retired man and a friend, I volunteered to help. Briefly- tearing out 7 beaver dams with a potato fork is a long, hard day. But we did accomplish what we wanted- to get the stream flowing to its normal depth and clarity. I continued to trap it for mink and coon- and one day about 2 weeks after pulling the dams, there was a fresh cutting. Either the beaver was still there or another had moved in. This occurred around the end of November. Well folks- I battled that singleton beaver during December, during January, during March, during most of April- all to no avail. Nowadays I’d do things entirely different- but remember, this was years ago. Actually, this experience taught me a lot about how to spook beaver and their reactions to being spooked. Seriously- it was a real eye-opener. But back then, I just kept plugging away. I would see where the beaver was coming out- but I soon found out that lured and baited sets were out. Any such set was totally ignored. We had pulled all of the dams- so crossovers and pullouts were no longer a factor. I also found ANY construction of sets, guide sticks, etc- put him off. I even found that if he came and made a cutting- if I walked down that bank to make a set- he would never return. If I didn’t set it up, of course he would return until he was done. I became a firm believer and have seen proof of this time and again- that spooked beaver react to your scent and certainly to any disturbance that they themselves didn’t do. Conibears were a joke. The only deep water was where he was denning up. This was the one big deep water hole on the creek- under an old tree root system- impossible to access or trap. And at any other location, the 330s would be sticking out of the water and avoided. This was a very close by location, so I didn’t mind messing around TOO much…but was starting to wonder if I would be able to catch the beaver or not.