Beaver Lodge

Hello All,

I started a beaver job last week and I think I got off on the wrong foot. I walked on the lodge to see if I could make sets at the lodge entrance. I didn't make any sets at the lodge.

Since, I have started trapping they have yet to see a beaver. I believe I spooked the beavers.

Question?

How long before they start coming out again? It has already been a week.


Thanks

Chuck

Something else has created the problem. Down here it is usually heavy equipment or smoke. Sometimes takes a month or more. If none of that, maybe the wait won,t be long.

Just a simple fire by the waters edge is all it takes.

Being that they're mostly nocturnal, how do you know they haven't been coming out? Any fresh sign, tracks, cuttings? Is a game cam an option?

Post pictures of your sets.

Pretty hard to spook them, especially right off. They don't usually take days to come out, come out each night. Almost sounds like they are not there. Set 6 traps yesterday afternoon at 3 locations, 5 beaver and a turtle today. If they are there its usually set, catch, done, castor, a channel, a dam break.

Well, I caught the snapper.

Caught snapper no. 2. told client to call me when the beavers are back

Chuck

Hey Chuck
I have to think the beaver were gone before you got there. I don't think they left because you walked on the lodge. Depending on the habitat they may have just wintered over and left for a better area. When was the last time any were seen before you started? Can you crush a dam to see any repair or new mud? We have been seeing a lot of the active sites didn't survive the long winter this year. I have been working with wildlife and water quality people this spring and that is what we are seeing. The algae is a lot different and aquatic plants have been effected. Sites that were active before ice had only a little use of the food cache. So check get your own info.
I also agree with the use of game cameras to see for yourself. I never trust the info I get from clients. It can be old info or hear say. In a lot of cases I find they can't tell a beaver from a muskrat. I had one last week that was muskrats living in an old beaver lodge.
Don LaFountain

Don, It's funny that you mention a couple of the things I just went thru last week... I had a client with Beaver issues (not severe at all) I caught one Beaver the first night , after finding a half and half lodge/bank den... after no more sign or activity at all..the client was swearing up and down he was seeing 2 more beaver,then 3 at night ..so I set up a cam, because I think he was actually trying to keep me there the entire time on a 10 day permit...I have no pics of any beaver or activity ..but I did see a rat one morning...there wasn't even enough sign to sustain the claim of 4 beavers occupying this pond.... The things we do to avoid a confrontation... But Coondog, I also highly doubt you scared them off , just by walking on a lodge..i do it all the time..sometimes they will come out...sometimes only one will come out....sometimes none !

Rip a hole or 2 or 3 in the dam and make a foothold set with breasting sticks at each hole.
Make the hole large, bout 18"-2' wide, so they bring sticks and not want to push up mud to clog a small hole

I usually do the same as traperjohn, a small hole or two. Only time it seems they don't go straight to a dam break is when the dam is on a large lake and the beaver are long distances from the dam, but they will return at some point fairly soon. Big holes demand big trees and brush, which you don't want. You just want a little mud. I sometimes will make two holes, again small, about 18 inches apart and place the trap between them. Mud dams seem easier to work with, usually retaining less water than a "leaky" stick dam. It was a tough winter. Sometimes the oxygen will get depleted in a pond or lake and kill all the fish too. All my neighbor's fish died. I guess the snow blocks the sun, the algae dies and there is no oxygen for the fish.

Beaver can spook but usually won't leave without a lot of pressure. Very hard to make them leave even if you want to. I have found that the only time a male might leave is when he is the last , family all trapped and I have wrecked the lodge and drained a pond. And then its pond tag for a while. They often return months later.

Clients do often mistake 'rats for beaver, easy for them to do and the reason they call us. They don't know. Had one last year, "there are 4 beaver, we saw them." I worked hard, set many traps. There were two.

No Dams, just a pond.

Lol. That's funny. True though.

Then when ya get a really big beaver, seeing the landowners reaction can be entertaining. Last year I caught the last of 5 nuisance beaver in a guys creek. It was 53 pounds, so big, but not like a record or anything. That landowner couldn't quit gasping in awe at the size. You would have thought I pulled an alien from the water.

The only way to tap beaver is to learn to age sign

Find out how they got there(where they came from originally to get to the pond)and trap them there.
Often people have trouble with beavers that only visit an area occasionally but are actually living somewhere else nearby.

Will they travel pretty far?

They will occasionally up to 1/4 mile on a watershed is not outside their homerange.The further from the main pond the less they travel to the perimeter,that is why some locations give trappers fits.
I did a spot like that this week.The main pond was about a 1/4 mile back in the bush from the road where they would plug the culvert,but only once in a while.
I hiked back to the main pond and took out 7 so far,lost 1 beaver and trap to a big black wolf that was at the dam when I approached,looking for another meal.All that was left of the one beaver was gut contents.Where the wolf ripped him up trying to get him out of the 330 until the wire snapped.
The wolf is a loner.

How do you carry beaver back to the truck over long distances without hurting your back? Luckily most landowners have roads where I can usually drive pretty close.

Loop a snare front foot to back foot, I prefer opposite corners, and sling it over your shoulder. You may want to pad the cable. If more than one double front foot two per snare loop and drag.

When I was younger I could pack 5 beaver on my back,(or a quarter moose) a couple miles thru the bush.
Today 2 or 3 is my limit and 1/2 mile is about the distance before a rest.
One Cree trapper I knew,Tom Archibald packed 11 beaver from the mouth of the trapper's creek on the Abitibi,thru the bush to the railroad track through rough country distance of over a mile in 2 trips.

The best way to carry beaver is not to. I use plastic sleds year round. They drag a whole lot better on snow, but ok over logs on leaves etc. Getting close to 70 so dragging makes a lot more sense. Brings back good memories of taking 34 beaver on a one mile stretch of track in a few days a while back that didn't bother my back, but gave me the hernia. Was plowing through muck that was over my knees in the dark without a light breaking through an inch of ice. Beaver on my back with a pile in the sled. After the first night I planned on getting in earlier, but didn't. Good colonies, one had 15, the rest were 8 to 10. Was at the peak. Another guy got 6. Very good week, managed a triple on otter too. When I first got there I set about 6 traps going in and had 2 beaver coming out. A land owner wanted a good one to mount. Got him a 59 pounder in a few hours. I use a 2 foot wide sled for my oversized cages or carrying 2 of the standard cages side by side. I have beat up 18 inch wide sleds for the standard cage that hold no water. The good one is like pulling a boat a lot of the time, very easy.

I can pack out more $ worth of chipmunks than beaver!

Impossible to pull a sled here in beaver country with all the criss crossed blowdowns and or old burn blowdowns.You would be unloading and reloading it every couple yards in some places,lol.A man can carry a lot of weight without much effort if you have a good tump strap.
In the old days each man on the canoe brigades were supplied with one portage strap and were charged 3 prices for the loss of it.The straps were very expensive and only a limited number available for trade.And everyone wanted them.

What is a tump strap, Boco?

It is a strap that attaches to your pack near the shoulder straps and goes around your forehead for carrying extra heavy weights on your back.

Ok, I've never seen such a strap. I'm not even sure where 1 could be purchased. You are tough to haul out as many beavers as you do