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Finding Beaver

Posted By: We-Sa

Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 12:35 AM

I'm trying to clear beaver out of a feeder creek and caught an adult female and male this past couple of weeks, mentioned here Preferred Stake for Mud and Beaver. I'm guessing that there may be a couple more but outside of the dam and some unused trails there's no sign whatsoever.

To confirm the presence (or absence) of any remaining beaver I slipped in and set up a couple of trail cams this evening. I then went across the road (a 4 lane with a turning lane and wide shoulders) to where the dam is and cut a 10 inch by 10 inch hole to both make some noise and drop the water level a little.

I'm thinking that even if the hole isn't repaired the dropping water level will force any remaining beaver to move about giving me a chance to catch them on the trail cams or see some fresh tracks. Is this a reasonable plan or is there something else I should or could do?
Posted By: Boco

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 12:41 AM

Where i am beaver wont immediately repair a small dambreak in summer,hot dry weather.After a good rain they often will "patrol" their territory and maintain dams and castor mounds.

If it is a new pond or if the old pond was trapped out previously there may be only two beaver.
If the pond has been active for a couple years there will most likely be more beaver,in the absence of regular trapping.
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 01:35 AM

Thanks Boco.

With no rain in the forecast, how dry its been and the hole in the dam I'm hoping they move enough to leave some tracks.
Posted By: Jim Comstock

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 12:06 PM

Dry is a good thing. When it's dry beaver will usually watch the dams closely, not wanting to lose a pond, often plugging every night, but not always if there is but one beaver remaining. A hole in a dam will usually tell the tale pretty quickly. After a rain is the best time to look for repairs, unless it was a particularly heavy rain. Last summer it literally rained every day for weeks. With water so high beaver didn't do much plugging but left the leaks as is. The ponds were high with no need to plug. With so much continuous water they payed little attention to a natural break or a break that I made. When there is heavy rain beaver will generally not bother to start repairing until the water begins to drop back to normal. If there has evidence of fresh mud pushed up, even small spots, he's still there. Dam break sets last year were a tough go, not productive.

What I find interesting is that where I used to find a pair or a pair with young, I now sometimes find colonies with big beaver only, all 35-50 pounds, 3,4, 5, or 6 of them, no young. Makes it more difficult to judge what is there when applying what has happened in the past. After catching 4 and the plugging appears to stop, I will sometimes get a call a few days later, "more activity." Just makes it harder to know when it's over. Even after all these years, hard to believe there are still new things to experience.
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by Jim Comstock
Dry is a good thing. When it's dry beaver will usually watch the dams closely, not wanting to lose a pond, often plugging every night, but not always if there is but one beaver remaining. A hole in a dam will usually tell the tale pretty quickly. After a rain is the best time to look for repairs, unless it was a particularly heavy rain. Last summer it literally rained every day for weeks. With water so high beaver didn't do much plugging but left the leaks as is. The ponds were high with no need to plug. With so much continuous water they payed little attention to a natural break or a break that I made. When there is heavy rain beaver will generally not bother to start repairing until the water begins to drop back to normal. If there has evidence of fresh mud pushed up, even small spots, he's still there. Dam break sets last year were a tough go, not productive.

What I find interesting is that where I used to find a pair or a pair with young, I now sometimes find colonies with big beaver only, all 35-50 pounds, 3,4, 5, or 6 of them, no young. Makes it more difficult to judge what is there when applying what has happened in the past. After catching 4 and the plugging appears to stop, I will sometimes get a call a few days later, "more activity." Just makes it harder to know when it's over. Even after all these years, hard to believe there are still new things to experience.


Thanks Jim, good info. Glad to hear I'm on the right track with the dam break and how dry it's been. Considering the size of this feeder creek it doesn't seem like there would be more than two but I learned last night beaver have been a problem along this section for a couple of years or a little longer. If there are more I bet it's a similar situation to what you described with no young ones.
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 11:20 PM

Which side of a dam will a beaver push up mud from?
[Linked Image]

This is the same “neck/pinch point ” I caught a male in last week. Its hard to see in this pic but it looks like the downstream side has been “dug” out a little.

Here’s a pic of the same spot when I caught the male last week.

[Linked Image]
Posted By: Boco

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 11:42 PM

They shove mud up from the pond side from the bottom in front of the dam,this deepens the water all along the face of the dam.(good for drowning)
Not much activity by the look of it.
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/08/22 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by Boco
They shove mud up from the pond side from the bottom in front of the dam,this deepens the water all along the face of the dam.(good for drowning)
Not much activity by the look of it.


Thanks Boco. That's what I was thinking but just wasn't sure. I didn't remember the downstream side being as deep as it is but maybe it was.
Posted By: Jim Comstock

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/09/22 02:47 AM

In a little better mood after taking a smart leftover beaver from last year in a 30 inch wide Belisle with a bit of castor. I think it's him anyway. No dam plugging today. Dam break sets with cages have been a good thing for a couple of reasons. Home owners get nervous with high water caused by beaver. With the cage placed over a leaking dam and covered in brush, grass, mud, the beaver will swim up inside to see what's up and get caught. If he doesn't come down to the dam or is for any reason leery for a couple of days, the water level on the pond will not go up since the leak through the cage will keep the water down, making maintenance free set and a home owner happy. Beaver usually hit them quickly, a night or two. I shared the set with Bob Noonan so anyone can ask him about it. He's caught a bunch that way.
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/09/22 08:37 PM

Trail cam pics didn’t show any beaver, just a family of coons and the resident geese. I’ve heard on here that beaver can hole up for several days in a bank den if disturbed hard. With this being such a short habitable section I may be done for the time being. I’ll check it out a couple more times over the next two weeks but hopefully I’ve gotten the miscreants.
Posted By: Jim Comstock

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/09/22 11:49 PM

Sounds like you got it under control. Did have one beaver last year that didn't seem to know how to build a dam or was just plain lazy, really weird. He was on a pond all summer, never touched the dam once. Very odd, I think a first for me. This year there was 5 there. Most plugged. I shot the first one first night so not sure if he was the one that didn't plug from the year before, but he was strange too. Went all around the castor, but not through the cages. Crawled up on the bank a couple of times from the back side. Had time to get the 22. He "asked for a bullet" and got it. Got one more smart one from last summer in the 30 inch Belisle again today, a very good day indeed when one of those smart guys is history. Only a three more of the smart ones to go. Love the dry weather. Less beaver work in dry times, but better to catch them.
Posted By: LT GREY

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/10/22 12:00 AM

Originally Posted by Boco
Where i am beaver wont immediately repair a small dambreak in summer,hot dry weather.After a good rain they often will "patrol" their territory and maintain dams and castor mounds.




Beaver move with rising water !
Posted By: We-Sa

Re: Finding Beaver - 07/10/22 02:02 AM

I hope I've got it under control.

Sadly shooting isn't an option (city limits).

With no rain in the forecast, beaver trapping ought to get even more interesting, lol.
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