Beaver job, where are the adults?

Started a new job on Friday and have caught two older kits, but no adults, and am puzzled.

The 3-acre pond is in an industrial area with a ditch that feeds into it and two drains. While no one was watching (!), beavers built a big dam at the main culvert and 3 dams down the ditch. The water level was raised about 4 ft in the pond and surrounding parking lots flooded. All has been since cleared out and the water is down to its normal level.

There is a lodge on the pond and the runs I can see don't look used. I haven't seen any new damage in either the ditch or the pond. No chewed sticks anywhere.

I set a couple of 750s near the lodge, which is where I had catches. Another is across the pond and has been untouched. I set a 330 in the ditch that is untouched so nothing is coming down the ditch into the pond.

Where are the adults??

thx

This is where trail cams come into play. Set a one to the side of the dam facing upstream. Put a small but noisy LEGAL breach in the dam. If your set right, you'll have photos of where they (if any) came from the next morning. If you have 2 set another farther up the stream to see what's out there. If you priced the job right (by the hour)this will not cut into your profits. This is why I only charge by the hour. I don't have to rush a job.
Hope this helped
Don LaFountain

All the dams were taken out and there has been no building activity anywhere in the ditch -- so completely clear. The water in the ditch, pond and drains is barely moving.

How much did those kits weigh?

13lbs, I just weighed one.

If all the dams have been removed the adults will be spooked and will hole up or move away for a while.
Check back in 2 weeks for activity.

The dams were removed a month ago. Any chance the adults left the youngsters behind?

With the lack of sign, I told my customer that I might not catch anything so I was very surprised to catch these two.

Isn't this the time of year when last yrs kits disperse?

These aren't 2yo, they're small.

Someone may have shot the adults before you got there.

Unlikely. The pond is isolated, behind an industrial business and completely fenced. Not a place anyone goes because it's inaccessible.

Plus, if the owner knew the beaver(s) were gone, he wouldn't have hired me.

But it IS unusual to catch two young ones and no older ones, right?

If there is any sign of dam repair, you are not done.

They did it backwards, messing up the trapping.

Dams need left in to help a trapper, just saying.

When folks tell me they took out a dam(s), I tell them, "call me if/when they rebuild them, and my job will be much easier and cheaper for you."

Dams were taken out completely and no new building activity at all in the pond or ditch.

We had that discussion. Due to the massive flooding that was occurring in neighboring parking lots, the city was threatening them with fines, they had to remove the blockages/dams over that weekend.

Since the water is down and you caught 2 beaver,I would wrap up this job.
Tell the owner to monitor for beaver activity,and to call you as soon as he sees damming activity.

Ditto. It's costly and counterproductive to keep going back if the action stops. As long as there is no sign of activity, your job is done. When I set a job that has either a pair or a pair with a first year litter, I try to be done in either one or not more than two or three checks. If the beaver are there and working the dam, I will stay with it. There are no rules for what you may might be at a location as it can be just about anything, big ones, small ones, different combinations. What is usually consistent is if they are there they will usually keep the dam up and fight you if you pull some sticks. As Boco says, just have the owner monitor the pond and let you know when there is activity.

Got another kit today....!

After talking to our state furbearer biologist -- and checking google earth --the new working theory is the adults may have moved to a nearby pond. Going to check it out tomorrow and see if there's any sign there.

I have seen what you describe. Adults sometimes leave the little ones behind at a newer pond and head to another location. Not sure how your regs read, but we have to confine trapping to the area under permit. We aren't really allowed to just go after beaver per se, but only the ones doing damage at a permitted area. Can be a lot of work looking for them, so I would rather wait for them to start trouble somewhere close to the road as they will do probably do in time anyway.

That's interesting. Any idea why they leave them behind? I've only been trapping about 4 years and it's my understanding beaver families are tight-knit so that surprises me.

My customer has spoken with the owner of the other pond in the past so he's going to go with me to talk to them. Again, it's a 3 acre urban pond so activity should be fairly easy to see if there is any. I'd rather set more traps now then have to come back in a month and start over.

I'm sure if the beaver have moved into that pond, there will be damage and the owner will be happy to have them removed, esp since my customer would pay for it. Cheaper to pay for removal now than weekend dam removal.

Mystery solved! Or the most likely scenario. It appears that the older beavers abandoned the kits when the dams were torn up and the culvert unplugged a month ago. All that noise and destruction must have spooked them. They likely relocated to a pond just north, about 400 ditch yards away. Looked around there today and sure enough there was a lodge with new sticks on it and new tree damage around the banks.

With only kits being present, that probably explains the lack of sign.

I learn something new with every job.

You will never stop learning. There are no hard and fast rules, though there are a lot of things that are common. From experience over years you will recognize and understand what is going on quickly and not waste time. With a pair of beaver I expect to be done overnight many times, two days at most. If its not over quickly, there is usually a wised up beaver, most often just one. If you set and get no action right away, no dam work, usually they are absent, moved, run over, shot? I pick up and just ask to be contacted as soon as work begins, if it does. You will develop a set or two that works most of the time and some followup sets for a smart one. Gets to be pretty routine.