Topic: Beaver eradication possibilities?

[mmtsquid]

Once I was out with friends "gigging" suckers and redhorse (for the uninitiated, during January and Februrary you can run up and down the river at night with big lights on your boat and spear these "non-game" fish).

It was my turn to gig, and I saw a LARGE shadow swimming past the boat.
Thinking it was a really big carp, I took a stab at it.
I was incorrect in my species identification - it wasn't a fish, it was a beaver!
And it was PI$$ED!
It got away, but I'm certain it died.  I really kind of felt bad about it - I'm a stickler for fish and game laws, and I'm sure gigging a beaver is about as illegal as it gets.

[Frankenkit]

Try a .22 long rifle with a really fluffy towel wrapped tight around the barrel (NOT over the muzzle)? 

For light at night, I strongly suggest getting a maglight or a headlight and using the blue-green filter...  green works best biologically with our night vision receptors.  MUCH more efficient than white light when you're using your night vision.

take a pocketful of rocks, too.  throw one to one side of the beast to change its direction or get it in position for a shot.  (squirrel hunting trick)

OR

get a havahart trap and set it up in one of their trails and stick a branch on top of it so it's not as visible, maybe spraypaint it flat OD green and black?

[burmashave]

Hey Kitsune, I had heard that taping an empty 2 litre soda bottle to the end of the muzzle makes the best home made silencer. It provides an expansion chamber for the escaping gas. Never tried it, though. What thinks you? Prolly makes it hard to sight over a barrel.

Does it go without saying that .22 rounds should be hollow points?

Note dark direction this thread has taken. ;-)

[Frankenkit]

Yeah, I heard the 2-liter, just never tried it.  All my skulking was done around my parents' house, where my mom was a bleeding heart fuzzy lover and I was a varminter.

I just can't recommend pipe bombs.  I've seen way, way too many ER cases with people missing hands and things to think they're reliable enough to be safe.

[JapJohn]

The 2liter bottle works, but who wants to drink 2liters of soda?

If you have hemlock growing near by smash juice it and soak some alfalfa pellets in the juice, sprinkle it in the damn hole, dead beaver.

Or dump gas in the hole and torch ‘em out.

[74cb750]

Some good ideas here, but I guess I forgot to mention..
the beavers are now in a "fishing pond", where little kids fish in a derby once a year, in 3 weeks.

I will not consider explosives on damns as they are almost all within 20 feet of the road. Same with firearms, as it is illegal to shoot within 150 feet of a traveled road I believe.

JapJohn:
If you have hemlock growing near by smash juice it and soak some alfalfa pellets in the juice, sprinkle it in the damn hole, dead beaver.

could you explain a little further on this?

If nothing else works, I'll have to set traps and post signs hoping no kids come up on my land. Probably will take them out 1 week before and 2 weeks after the derby.

Thanks for all your input.
peace,
michel

[mystic_1]

Just shave the beavers.  Guys are always looking to pick up a shaved beaver, they'll be gone in no time


mystic_1

[74cb750]

Hey Bob,
I read the whole thing you linked to. Interesting. Gives me a direction to go.
peace,
michel

[Frankenkit]

Hemlock or foxglove...

Hemlock is a poison, famous b/c Socrates was put to death with its extract, and Foxglove, aka Digitalis is toxic, working on the heart.

...knowledge is half the battle-
GIJoe!

[JapJohn]

JapJohn:
If you have hemlock growing near by smash juice it and soak some alfalfa pellets in the juice, sprinkle it in the damn hole, dead beaver.

could you explain a little further on this?

This is just a scientific theory, not that I have ever done this before . If you have Hemlock or foxglove growing near by, get yourself a cheap juicer because you will not want to use it again. Juice the Hemlock and get some alfalfa pellets from a local farm and feed store, take some of the pellets and soak them in the juice, find the entry/exit to the beavers lair and leave them a tasty treat. Be sure to use rubber gloves when making this stuff and pay for everything in cash.

Or, do like mystic_1 said and post an add on your local craigslist in the casual encounters section and they will be gone by the end of the day.

[Frankenkit]

It's a fishing pond, though... otherwise I'd have advocated D-Con or rat poison. 

If you were handy with a blowgun, I'd say 'mix some hot hot hot sauce (like 'pure pain') with isopropyl alcohol, strain, cook or evaporate off the alcohol so you have pure capsicum, dip your darts in the capsicum because it's a very effective neurotoxin, and have fun' ...

...

but that's also probably illegal.

people won't let us have any fun.

[750K2]

hi michel - this has turned into a grimly amusing thread but then again, the beavers aren't on my land.  so these little furry varmints are actually turning your property into wetlands and flooding your driveway? or just being a pain in the a**.  if it were the p.i.a., my personal opinion would be to learn to live with it.  property destruction on the other hand would mean escalation to combat.  i wouldn't want a raccoon in my garage or a skunk under my porch.

 my choice would be the live traps after the fishing derby, but it depends on how much traffic your woods see.  you could always use small chain to keep the trap in place and discourage kids from taking it.  and traps are annonymous.  if you were in a vengeful mood, i would second the bow and arrow approach.  one of my guys brought in a compound bow and his crossbow to work and these were things you could get off ebay for short money.  they came with high quality stock sights and could send an arrow through a sheet of plywood.  after your work is done you can re-ebay and move on.  wait until after the fishing derby if you possibly can.  the less traffic around your place, the better you'll be as witnesses could lead to complications that a cross bow couldn't resolve without prison time.  i have a buddy who has waged a 20 year campaign against seagulls and he works with the utmost discretion.  sort of a don't ask, don't tell policy.  but somehow there never seems to be any seagulls at his marina.  done properly you can use plausible deniability.  

i'm a bit of a wildlife freak but sometimes a man's gotta do.  now if you happen to have a way to keep arctic terns from crapping all over my boat, i'd appreciate your thoughts!  i was gonna start a shoreline rod and gun club...we'll see.
frank

[Glenn Stauffer]

So my question is this: how do I rid myself of these voracious tree eaters?
1)I was thinking of shooting them, but have discovered to my dismay that they are nocturnal and roam only within a 'no shoot zone' (ie, within 150 feet of traveled road),

I had them on my property for a year or so until a neighboring conservancy hired a trapper.  He used large wooded box traps to take the adults.  Unfortunately, the trapper then killed the beaver; you could, if you cared enough to not want to kill them, relocate them.

I happened to like watching the beaver; spent quite a few evenings down by the creek watching them in the light of a flashlight or around dusk when they came out of their den.  Fascinating creatures.  The trees I didn't care about, I let them take.  The trees I wanted to keep, I protected with a simple fence using 4 ft horse fence and t-posts - just check to see if they are starting to dig under - I doubt they will bother.

If they can't get to enough trees to keep fed, they will eventually move to greener pastures - well, forests.

[BobbyR]

So my question is this: how do I rid myself of these voracious tree eaters?
1)I was thinking of shooting them, but have discovered to my dismay that they are nocturnal and roam only within a 'no shoot zone' (ie, within 150 feet of traveled road),

I had them on my property for a year or so until a neighboring conservancy hired a trapper.  He used large wooded box traps to take the adults.  Unfortunately, the trapper then killed the beaver; you could, if you cared enough to not want to kill them, relocate them.

I happened to like watching the beaver; spent quite a few evenings down by the creek watching them in the light of a flashlight or around dusk when they came out of their den.  Fascinating creatures.  The trees I didn't care about, I let them take.  The trees I wanted to keep, I protected with a simple fence using 4 ft horse fence and t-posts - just check to see if they are starting to dig under - I doubt they will bother.

If they can't get to enough trees to keep fed, they will eventually move to greener pastures - well, forests.

Now that is a plan.

[tramp]

get some live traps and then relocate them far away

[74cb750]

Interesting comments.
Replies. Well, guess what? People have started fishing early, like yesterday. So...

I have a feeling this is going to be a long drawn-out affair, as I said previously, there are 10 damns downstream from my property and the fishing pond.

Poison: really can't use this as it might affect the kids whom accidentally pick up the pellets etc etc.

Traps: still investigating this option, esp. considering liabilities. Hey, we're talking little kids here,you know?

Gun: well my Mossburg would definitely wake up the neighbors (and esp the "beaver loving transplant from a prosperous state". The .22's are quieter, but really, at 4-6am the cops would definitely show up, and it IS illegal to fire firearms within 150 feet of a well traveled road/neighbors property.

Water: the current damns are creating problems less than 25 feet from my driveway, ie, flooding by summer if current currents (snicker) continue. State road will flood at same time as my driveway, then state will HAVE to get involved.

One thing I'm concerned about: once the upper beavers are gone, won't the beavers from the lower 9 dams try to reclaim it?

Ah well, this is really a much easier problem to deal w than the drunks falling into my bikes and LSD tripping individuals that used to crash in my driveway at 3am when I lived in the "city". 

peace,
michel
Will keep you posted on my progress.

[Glenn Stauffer]

You'll have to keep at it for a while, I guess or just not bother and protect the trees that matter with fencing.  As for the dam, the best long-term solution I've heard of is to put a PVC pipe through the dam to keep the water level below the point where it floods stuff that matters.  If the pipe extends 4ft or so past the dam on either end and is a few feet off the ground, the beaver won't be able to block the water flow.

As for trapping, box traps are your best bet and you aren't going to have to worry about hurting someone's kids or pets.  If you consider leg-hold traps, remember, you'll proably find a live beaver in the trap unless you know what you are doing - setting the trap in such a way that the animal drowns - and then, if it is alive, you are going to have to shoot it so if you have worries about discharging firearms...

[Rocking-M]

Gun: well my Mossburg would definitely wake up the neighbors (and esp the "beaver loving transplant from a prosperous state". The .22's are quieter, but really, at 4-6am the cops would definitely show up, and it IS illegal to fire firearms within 150 feet of a well traveled road/neighbors property.


Ah well, this is really a much easier problem to deal w than the drunks falling into my bikes and LSD tripping individuals that used to crash in my driveway at 3am when I lived in the "city". 

peace,
michel
Will keep you posted on my progress.

Sounds to me like you still live in the city.    I do think you could still apply for a permit to kill the beavers and if your that close to the road
the best/safest shooting position would be shooting from the road into the damn, a few feet off the road of course. But, if you have neighbors to
close for that then your neighbors are to close. 

[fixahonda]

Can you maybe spray some type of poison on the trunks of your trees? That way you are only passively fending them off.

[fuzzybutt]

what are the firearm laws there in the case of silencers? i know that theyre legal here. silenced 22 is q u i e t

[Bob Wessner]

Wow, four pages, 45 replies and 500+ reads. Almost as provocative as an oil thread. Who'd have thought.

[bender01]

I grew up in the NEK and we had game warden permission of sorts. But they were very persistant year afer year new family coming back etc. etc.Had an old trapper that gave up. We pulled the dams apart and many evenings got a shot at one. But they sink after theyre shot and come back up the next day by the dam so keep that in mind if stealth is key. After several years they finally stopped coming but Ive heard this week that theyre back again. Good luck. I have an inlaw in Williston thats a very succesful bow hunter. He wont break the law but if you get permission he might give it a go.

[burmashave]

Wow, four pages, 45 replies and 500+ reads. Almost as provocative as an oil thread. Who'd have thought.

You neglected to mention that we're still on topic.

[Bob Wessner]

Wow, four pages, 45 replies and 500+ reads. Almost as provocative as an oil thread. Who'd have thought.

You neglected to mention that we're still on topic.

Very true.. and very unusual.

[tbone]

When I was in southern New England we had a similar problem and all the rodent huggers would of had me arrested if we shot them. The law said nothing about their dams though. So, I decided to move the dam with a D8 Caterpillar bulldozer! Sadly I may have inadvertently crushed them little rodents under the tracks because they were never to be seen or heard from again.