walk with me wednesday.. with beaver
July 09, 2008
Everybody has "their thing" that they do. You know what I mean, for example, baking chocolate chip cookies, or the best lasagna. For me, one of my "things" is that I seem to have the ability to trap beavers. Don't laugh. If you live on a pond, it is a great skill to have. Years ago, we had to shoot them or worse yet, set the killer bear traps for the beavers that settled here. It was awful. Beavers are smart, beautiful animals. I can't bear to kill them, especially when so many people want ponds built on their properties. Depending on where you live, it isn't always easy to get a permit to turn a wetland into a pond. Beavers don't get permits. That makes it pretty handy to have a beaver ready and more than willing to work. My preferred method is to set a Hav-a-Hart trap. Live trapping, uninjured. I brag about the year that I trapped the offender in the first 15 minutes after setting the trap. Usually, I get them within hours. NOT this year. It was a solid week. Every morning with my first cup of coffee and every night before I went to bed, I'd walk down to the trap and make sure that no one was inside. There isn't any point to stressing an animal any more than necessary. I move them as soon as I find them. This little beaver was so smart. He had it down. Day after day I found that he'd poked long sticks into the trap and released it. One day I found that he'd somehow been able to block the entrance and partially fill the inside with mud and pond weed, his specialty. On my evening checks, he'd be waiting a bit offshore and smack the water with his tail several times to scare me away. I was beginning to think that this one would be the beaver that got away, or that we'd have to get rid of by other means. My neighbor had complained that his field behind the pond was too wet to pasture. There has been so much rain and the beaver had taken full advantage. The water level was really high. My damn was soggy. What the beaver built at night, I'd break down in the morning. Lines had been drawn. He had to go.
Location is everything. Not here? maybe here?? Suble difference. As the water level changes, so does the trap position.
Got 'em!
This little guy was so beautiful. I wanted to dig my fingers into his fur coat. It was long and shiny and so soft looking. I didn't. When it came to the release, he wasn't about to turn his back on me. I had to dump him out of the trap. Poor thing, he hissed and backed away.
Did you know that beaver hiss?
Your talents are extraordinary...
nicely done!
Posted by: cyndy donahue | July 09, 2008 at 09:52 AM
Wow! That's quite a catch. I had no idea they hissed. Good idea to stay away from the big teeth!
Posted by: margene | July 09, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Did you take him someplace that NEEDED a pond? He's so clever, he deserves a chance to build again.
Posted by: Juno | July 09, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Nope, didn't know about beaver hissing. He does look pissed. Mighty huntress.
Posted by: Laurie | July 09, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Aww, he just wanted to stay near your lovely place. Best that he find a new place of his own, though. Do you advertise your services? :-)
Posted by: Carrie | July 09, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Where do you release them? Would they cause a problem for the people in their new neighborhood? We've seen beavers a few times while canoeing and I love it when they slap the water - a subtle reminder that we're the visitors.
He is definitely giving you the eye!
Posted by: elizabeth | July 09, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Glad you didn't touch him. They are carriers of giardia a gut bug from hell. If you swim in said pond you and dogs can get it. And dogs can pass it to humans btw not that you have one. Let's just say things pass through ones gut at an alarming and very smelly rate for quite a while.
Nice catch and release btw.
Posted by: Manise | July 09, 2008 at 12:27 PM
I had no idea and boy does he look pissed at you!
Posted by: Carole | July 09, 2008 at 12:30 PM
I really like this :) Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: aija | July 09, 2008 at 01:02 PM
I'd actually love to have him in my backyard - I'd love a pond. Don't think we have enough water for him though, as the stream is already dried up until the fall/winter.
Posted by: iris | July 09, 2008 at 07:48 PM
I had no idea they hissed! Really cool shot of that seriously po'd beaver, hope he can't backtrack *lolol*
Posted by: AnnaMarie | July 09, 2008 at 09:55 PM
No, I didn't know that they hissed. And I thought that they had rounder snouts somehow. Like muskrats maybe? Such and interesting post, Judy.
Posted by: Ann | July 09, 2008 at 11:45 PM
How far didja have to take him so he wouldn't come back to work on his project some more?
Posted by: Anne | July 10, 2008 at 07:50 AM
Bravo, you eco amazon! Relocating beavers has to be the greenest thing I have heard in a long time.
Posted by: Roxie | July 10, 2008 at 10:08 AM
I'm scared of him, several states and one computer monitor away. Yikes! ;-)
I wonder if he will come back. Do they ever?...
Posted by: Beth S. | July 11, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Cool. Good skill to have.
Posted by: claudia | July 13, 2008 at 11:09 PM
what a cute little guy!
Posted by: vanessa | July 26, 2008 at 01:56 PM