Jogeephus
Well-known member
Caustic Burno":1r6rhxsw said:
What I have gathered is they have a pretty good sense of topography and elevation and construct their dams where they can flood the most land. They use the water for protection since they are fairly clumsy on land. The flooded land is also a buffet to them because of all the living plants and trees it puts in their safe zone.
On my place there was a bottleneck at a road I put through the swamp and they started stopping up pipes. I put hog wire in front of the pipes and they couldn't stop the water so after a year or two they went upstream about 50 yards and built another dam. I battled them here for a year or so till they built the mega-dam in the photo. This backs water up for several hundred yards till the elevation changes and here they built another and this is repeated for a mile or so. Each of these "lakes" has about 2-3 foot of water in them and when the water gets down to about a foot deep they build another.
I read where in Canada its illegal to drain the beaver ponds during the winter months because this would starve them to death. If only we got some subfreezing weather I would go rogue in a heartbeat.
I agree, they can't stand to hear their water leaving their ponds so if you breach a dam they will surely be back within a day or two to repair it. Since they will be swimming to the dam with debris to fix the dam you need to place leg hold traps out in front of the breach to catch them because a 330 or snare will get fowled with the debris they are carrying. Also, the leg hold needs to be set in about 8-10" of water and about two foot back from the point where the water is only 3-4" deep. The reasoning for this is the beaver will swim toward the breach with all the junk in his arms and when his elbows hit the dirt he will stop swimming and kick his feet down on the ground and start walking. Where he kicks his rear feet down is where the trap needs to be set.
I've also learned its always good to breach a dam just before it rains because after the rain they tend to check their fences so to speak and you can catch more than normal.
GB, in that open water canal I think I'd try snares set on poles. If you'll take castor and put on a cotton ball and fix this to the pole about a foot over the water then fix snares on the sides of the pole the beaver will smell the castor and swim around the pole trying to figure out how to pee on your scent ball and he'll get caught. Of course you channel may be to deep to use this setup but if yo can its a good one to use. Or you can use this in the channels they dig themselves. I'll put the bottom of the snare about three inches under water with a 10" opening. I've had a lot of luck with this setup snaring.
