I was picking up a beaver trap i had set on the Chippewa river today. As I approached the set a large Bald Eagle took flight from the rivers edge. The water had dropped overnight exposing the blanket beaver and the Eagle ate a front shoulder. The leg hole in pelt will be alittle bigger than normal. Lol At least I didn't have to fight for possession!
Decades ago when I started trapping you never had to contend with Eagles on the line. Now they are very common.

Another spot on a creek I've been trapping for several days i caught the second of a pair of 2 yr Olds in a castor mound with a Bridger 5# dogless. I had a float set 10 yds downstream. A beaver had swam right by the float and left tracks and a castor mnd back behind the float on the shore. I'm sure it was 2nd of the pair of beaver I caught as this was a new pair that showed up this fall.
I've had good luck with floats in the past but these beaver wouldn't work them. A trapper is always learning.

Good story, Walt! Reminds me of a time I had a beaver set below a high bank on the Black River. Went in the morning to check and when I approached I could see ripples going out into the River from the set. I said "Well, what do we have here?" out loud. Right then a big Eagle flew up and over the high bank no more than 3-4 feet away from me. I could feel the wind in his wings. Somehow a muskrat had gotten into the trap and the Eagle decided to have him for breakfast. I climbed down and pulled the muskrat from the trap and laid it on a downed tree in the River. I figured the Eagle deserved it after the show and rush he had given me.

Moosetrot

Indeed good story. When I was running DPs on drowners for 'coon the river dropped a foot and a half plus between checks. This wasn't the only one snacked on.