They have 2 or 3 excavators....one is large. They do what is needed when removing beaver dams. A couple of their guys are very skilled heavy equipment operators.

I sure enjoy the pics and this post more beaver sign than I've seen in my life

Watching out for snakes ,wasps, and gators.Stepping in muck that has no bottoms and heat that’s hard to breathe in. Sweat falling off of you like rain drops and you’re thinking to yourself am I having fun yet? Yep, you can’t to do it all over again tomorrow. Stay safe SW

You described it perfectly!!

Another single beav today. Very poor physical condition, no fat...(it's likely the one that's been eating pine cambium.) Caught in a snare that was 2/3 submerged in a shallow channel leading to an artificial scent mound (Backbreaker was the lure.) It was a female and her castors were big as chicken eggs, but the membrane was tissue thin and the castor inside was hard a rocks.

Watching out for snakes ,wasps, and gators.Stepping in muck that has no bottoms and heat that’s hard to breathe in. Sweat falling off of you like rain drops and you’re thinking to yourself am I having fun yet? Yep, you can’t to do it all over again tomorrow. Stay safe SW


What are gripping about, ive seen you in action, you sit in the mule and let poor ol Lonnie do all the work, lol. Hope your doing well old friend.

It was a female and her castors were big as chicken eggs, but the membrane was tissue thin and the castor inside was hard a rocks.

Ive only caught 3 of those in my life, folks on here said they are barkstone castor's.

JTrap,
I think that was the 3rd one with rock hard castors I've caught too. Other 2 were males, if I remember right.

Nice country, you're getting some action.

Gotta love them one a day summer beaver jobs, lol. Like pulling teeth.

Do you have to pretty much wade everywhere in the swamps?

Are there roads or canals that give you access to the areas you are setting?

Keith

I do have to wade/walk the length of these dams to find the right set location (if possible.). Got to be dead on location in summer. At most of the timber company beaver sites the water has backed up (flooding logging roads or planted pine plantations) due to a clogged culvert or a dam built in the right/wrong spot. At most sites the extent of the problem is not known until I find it......can't see it from road. The primary dam is where you have to set traps in summer to catch em and that dam may be hard to get to. The secondary dams or plugged pipes may be easily accessible, but beavers may not care if you release the water there. Gotta find that primary dam that's holding water around the lodge or bank dens. If my Honda sxs can drive in there...I do. I'm too old to tote that gear very far.

I also use a Jet Sled (like duck hunters use for decoys) to float the gear in if possible.

That jet sled is a handy piece of equipment. I had a guy bring one in this year to help me get a deer across a Bay branch. I was impressed.

Way to get after em'!!!

Mine don't have a motor...lol

Adult male today at another jobsite....ag field ditches. Caught at breach set at dam in background.

I had one of those for duck hunting and pulling deer out. “HAD” one until the boys decided to tie it to the 4-wheeler and pull each other around in it. Going across pavement and dirt roads eventually wore holes in the bottom of it and that lead to bigger holes and basically destruction.

Its a chore for sure!! I put a few beaver sets out at my ol man’s swamp last year. Fortunately we are far enough north we don’t have to worry about gators but the occasional cottonmouth still makes his appearance known from time to time. Nothing like stomping around in a marshy area. You think well that looks solid enough to hold me. Afterward you sink down 3ft and you have to pour the water out of your rubber boots. Keep after ‘em!!

Don't know where this brood female has been the past week, but she stepped in a NoBS trap last night. She may have came from downstream off adjoining property with this high water. There has been no fresh sign here for 7 days. And I was planning on pulling this location this morning...reset it...will pull tomorrow.

Isn't fat folks weather anymore, lol

That's a FACT!!

I got a little heat stroked feeling this morning by the 2nd stop. 93 with humidity so bad I couldn't breathe....