I am building a forage pond and thinking of raising RES for additional forage to the LMB pond and for fishing and eating. RES will feed on FHM's that will also be stocked in the forage pond and maybe just maybe some snails might show up but if they do, I would think any that would enter the pond would be eaten before they could become established as another food source for the RES. So I am thinking of a bug light or two around the forage pond might help the RES grow to the sizes I would like to have. I have no elec. power @ the ponds so was thinking solar power for the bug lights. My research here has not found any solar power bug lights. Is my research lacking or are they not available? Any one have any idea's on how to DIY solar power bug lights? Would several small lights work as good as one larger light on a 1/3 acre pond? And what about cost? I have seen some solar panels at Harbar freight but I am thinking about the quality of their stuff.
Now about the Beavers. One has shown up at the pond, Any problems here? Only a couple of Willow trees are in the pond area. I do not see how a beaver would be negative on a water shed pond. Am I wrong here?
Thanks
Tracy
Last edited by TGW1; 10/29/1507:42 AM. Reason: sp
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
The beavers will dig into the bank to make a den. There's the possibility of the bank caving in at that point, and their den is large enough that an ankle could be twisted, a leg broke if a person falls wrong or if it's the main living quarters of the den, a tractor tire could drop in.....
Last weekend I saw a muskrat den in the swamp next to my lake, it was in the middle of the swamp I'd guess about 500ft away from the lake. No one goes in the swamp. Other than them creating holes is there anything a should be worried about?
Tgw1 good luck with your beaver and please keep us posted about your light. I am interested in having a bug attracting light on a floating island to feed frogs and hopefully put them in a situation to get eaten by my future SMB. I know next to nothing about RES but I think one of the biggest issues would be teaching them to stay in the light and when the bugs hit the water to eat them. Maybe a good idea would be to get one of those kiddy pools from Walmart for $15 and don't feed them for a day or two then turn the light on one night and see if they eat the bugs.
RM and TGW1 Muskrats are not necessarily bad and dangerous to you unless they bore into your dam. Even then they won't cause a dam failure in every instance. You have to weigh the risk. It seems that all who post on this forum about muskrats are in favor of removal. So be it. We keep a family in our pond. The young are hilarious chasing the adults for attention; the adults are hilarious, almost getting on plane chasing mallards. Beavers, on the other hand..."satamasagana, for jimmy jazz; cut off his ears, chop off his head"
As I have no experience with RES, I can only go on what I remember from a thread on the forum that recommends they are happiest under cover of darkness or at least low light. That's not to say they wouldn't come to a bug light for a meal, just that in RAS or other tanks they do their best work at low light levels, so trying to train them with a bug light in a pool might be less than optimum.
The RES spawn once a year as I recall, so they are not really a food source for LMB, they are however great at snail removal!! If you want more forage, use CNBG. You might also add Tilapia during the warmer months.
About Beavers, they have a place in public waters. I am growing trees and beavers are a problem for us. However, they do make great fajitas, and their fur, while hard to remove, makes great gloves and mittens.
I was taught to use conibear 330's for beavers. They work great. If you are a very good shot, be ready after sunset and you might get a chance. Rarely will you get a second shot opportunity.
About solar, I have dabbled, your choices are to find a DC powered light system, or use batteries and an inverter. Your choice. I like adding solar power to my ponds as needed, its portable and I can get things done with it that otherwise would not get done, but it is work to set up and its not free. The HF panels are not what you are looking for. Look for mono-crystalline or poly-crystalline cell panels. Don't skimp on the charge controller and use proper batteries. In the long run, you will be dollars ahead and a lot happier with the results.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
I will keep mine then. I wish I could have seen mine. I've never seen a wild one before and we even went out with night vision and couldn't find them. I originally thought it was a beaver and the lady from the water lab said it was a muskrat den. Not bothering me or my fish so I'm not worried. The light interests me though, do you have any idea about YP and the bug light? My idea is the YP and frogs will work together to eat the bugs and the SMB can work on the frogs and smaller YP.
The Beaver showed up just before the rains came. The Bayou that goes through the back side of the land was almost dry except for a few small shallow puddles, due to the severe drought. So maybe he will go back to the bayou now that we have received the rains. I don't mind the beaver dams in the bayou because they may cause water to hold up in the bayou during droughts. I guess I will monitor for now to see what happens at the pond and may have to take him out if needed. And Bryan, thanks for your recommendations on the solar system for the bug lights. And as far as the RES, I was thinking the RES get larger than the CNBG and if and when my lmb grow to double digit, the RES would serve as a larger meal and less likely to stick in the lmb throat. And I prefer eating them over the blue gill. My big pond is loaded with cnbg and Tilapia now.
Thanks
Tracy
Last edited by TGW1; 10/30/1508:37 AM. Reason: sp
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
I also am battling a beaver...unsuccessfully I might add. But in the process I have got 3 nutria rats removed which hind sight I should have left them as they eat the aquatic vegetation(another issue on my property). I have found there den but I do not know how to trap or go about trapping them. I saw it once but did not have gun in hand and when I retrieved the one from my pickup it was gone. Hope you have better luck, wish I could give you some better advice. They do eat a lot of my tree's they seem to like to drop them more than eat them completely.
I got this juvenile last week. Wife manned the spotlight. Papa beaver is still there and dammed up my spill way last night after heavy rain this weekend. I have a couple conibear traps, but not good access to their den. So it's moonlit nights and a spotlight. Look for the wake, then light it up.
Just an update to my beaver problem that may help others, I figured out that if I only cleared a two foot wide section of the spill way ,that they had dammed, allowing water to flow through, they would be drawn to this spot. I set the conibear trap just in front of it. Killed three in two days. However, what I believe to be the last and largest beaver in the pond set the trap off and escaped. It will now not go near the spill way as long as the trap is there. If I remove the trap he dams it all up again. Smart buggers.
Yes, they ARE smart, especially ones that had their toes pinched or their nose whacked. If the depth is correct by the breach in the dam, try placing a peeled stick sideways in the water so the beaver has to dive under it to get to the breach in the dam. Do that a few days in a row without the trap under the stick, so it gets used to going under it without seeing the trap. Then place the trap under the stick. It helps if the trap is dark in color, and not shiny new. Try spray painting it with Rustoleum brown or black paint, just cleaning off the area where the dog fits over the wire of the trap.
Or try a snare in the channel.
Or try a castor mound set with a foot hold trap, properly attached to a drowning wire slide that is in deep enough water to drown it once caught. Make this set away from the breach in the dam.
Thanks for the advice esshup. The spill way and where they dam is shallow. The trap is half out of the water. From what you said, I think I will dig the spot for the trap deep, then cover with sticks they have there and let him get used to it then place the trap. (it's plenty rusty now). I have tried the mound set foothold trap, but they would always set it off without getting caught.. I am not experienced enough to get that right I guess. I think you got me going in the right direction with hiding the conibear better.
Beaver (and muskrats) will swim under a floating stick vs. climb over it. When you dig the bottom down, make sure you dig it long or wide enough to allow the trap to snap shut without hanging up on the bottom. i.e. don't just make a trench wide enough to place the set trap. Do that as soon as you place the stick there. Get them used to swimming into that slight depression.
Also you can push a stick thru the spring into the bottom of the pond to help keep it upright. It helps if they bump the side of the trap to keep it from tipping over and then tripping.
You will most likely have only one more chance to catch the smart one. You don't want to give it a diploma and allow it to go to grad school.
If you know he frequents that spot when the trap isn't there, leave the trap there for a couple of days, remove it and set up across from that area and push one down the barrel to put the final nail in your beaver coffin, no?
Not as easy as it sounds. They only come out at night. I got the first one this way, but they learned the spotlight (red or green light doesn't matter) quickly and dive instantly when it comes on. Not enough time to aquire target. I actually now believe they learned to not come out at all until all the lights at the house are off.
Can you not set some of their favorite wood out in that shallow area by the spillway, set up shop across the way providing good cover, and pick it off this way?
You would build your blind days in advance, when you have the trap at the spillway, then remove the trap and sit behind / in your blind. With one in the chamber ready to fly and the beaver on the wood you've set out, that should give you time to squeeze the trigger. If you're set up on a bipod or tripod then you're just sitting quiet as can be and no movement other than squeezing the trigger.
What is the distance from "across the way" wherever you would set up, be it opposite of spillway or behind it?
That is shallow, half the depth of the trap or a bit less and I can tell by where the trap caught them, that they weren't moving that fast either. When they are moving fast, I've caught them with their head all the way thru the trap and the trap snapped around their mid section. One side near their front legs, 2nd side just in front of their hind legs.
I've also made a makeshift fence of dead sticks to help guide them to go through a certain area and then placed the trap there after they get comfortable going through the narrower area.
One way to ensure that they are in the trap when they move slow is to spread out the trigger wires to the side, a wide upside down "V" then take a pair of pliers and bend the last 1" of the trigger wire so it's pointed straight down keeping that maybe 1" or so away from the vertical sides of the trap. It allows them to get further through the trap before tripping.
The trap can also be placed so the trigger dog is on the bottom, not the top and the "V" that is made by the trigger wires looks like that.
They can use their whiskers to feel for obstructions in front of them too, so it's critical to get their head in the trap.
