Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations How do I get rid of a beaver?

A couple weeks ago a beaver decided my pond would make an excellent home. Luckily he didn't dig into the dam, but on a steep bank on the opposite side. We've put wire mesh around the trees we want to save, but still have 100's of saplings around for him to eat. Don't really want to kill it, but friends I've talked to say it's the only way. I've waited with my rifle several nights for him to come out, but so far no luck. Thinking about maybe buying a trap and placing it in the entry hole under water. Any one had this problem before and resolved it in a more humane way?

Any one had this problem before - all the time
resolved it in a more humane way? --- no.

I'm afraid the technique ewest used is the only one that will work to protect your trees/saplings. It's a 330 Conibear or a knock-off. You will also need to buy a trap setter for them, unless you are MUCH stronger than I am.

If you've never set them before, do yourself a favor and buy a conibear 120. It will teach you how to set the trap and let you practice without wearing yourself out.

Be careful with the 330 and use the spring catches until it's set in place. You don't want one snapping on your hand or wrist, especially if it's staked down and you are by youurself.

If you can find the beaver run leading to it's den, the 330 is my preferred method of control.

Sometimes the dumb beaver around here get lead poisoning.

I've seen that in some groundhog and possum populations. Must relate to the habitat.

Thanks so much for your advise. Looks like one of those Conibear traps is in my future. I think I'm gonna have a lifetime supply of beaver hair for my fly tying bench.

Don't let a dog near that trap. I'm sure it will be in the water but just in case...

It depends if you like the dog or not....

I like all dogs. The so called bad ones are due to idiot owners or mistreatment.

Cecil our last dog could change your mind.

There are some here that are running deer. If you see them, they run the other way just as fast as a coyote.

Is that before or after you fire an arrow at them?

Plenty of bad dogs around here. If you come up on them they start growling and snapping. Dangerous around kids or other dogs.Don't use traps on them however but rather run them off. If they don't leave then harsher measures are used. Yotes are a different matter. This one ate to many fish.

He ate live fish?

Dead fish that had been in an ice chest for a week - no ice. There was ice to start but relative they were left for did not come pick them up. A week later - yuck. Dumped them behind the block house . Yote came in and ate to many or maybe got a bone stuck. If you look close you can see fish on the ground and no marks (wounds) on the yote.

This was during the summer, no weapon in hand. There's a brushy area in a corner of the property that a doe uses for a nursery. Last year she had twins there, the year before a single fawn. This year I think the fawn or fawns were eaten. The dogs were in that area, and I was about 100 Yds away. As soon as they saw me they about turned themselves inside out getting out of there without me saying or doing anything.

You may disagree but I don't totally blame the dogs. It's the owners that either let the dogs roam free or dumped the dogs. I think we can both agree a responsible owner like ourselves knows where his dog is at all times and doesn't let it roam the neighborhood to cause problems, hence my comment about "idiot owners."
I can see a well trained dog that stays on a rural property without restraint, but it's obvious dogs that run deer are not of that caliber.

Cecil, I agree 100%!

There are wild dogs with no owner. Born and live there their whole life.

Then they breed with the yotes and have Coydogs

That may be true but I'm wondering if that is more the exception than the rule. According to dog experts dogs do not survive long in the wild like cats do.

Actually neither do very well if they've never had to hunt. I see a lot of dogs that have been dropped off by owners. I usually pick them up and haul them to the Fort Worth SPCA. That's a good way to get fleas in your pickup.

Stray house cats generally get eaten by coyotes.

Dave,

Makes sense. There must be enough cats that learn to hunt as up here we have cats up the whazoo in the wild. Terrible on upland gamebirds.

Coyote numbers vary from one area to another. Some areas are littered with them but my locality not so many for some unknown reason. Maybe more coyote hunters in my area.

We have more wild dogs (not strays) than yotes. Cecil domesticated dogs came from the wild and don’t have a big problem reverting over a couple generations if there is not too much competition from yotes , wolves etc. Everything from mice to deer is fair game. Very few cats if any. I don't recall ever seeing a cat (other than bobcats)in our area. Keep in mind I am not talking about around the edge of suburbia.

Interesting how things like this vary from area to area. In San Diego County a few years back there were several packs of dogs that were attacking farm animals, etc. This occurred in a rural area (near Julian for those that know the area), apparently over the years folks would drive up to this rural area and drop off their unwanted dogs. These dogs formed packs and began hunting. They were caught on camera several times. IIRC ultimately the county allowed these dogs to be hunted.

I've owned both dogs and cats and in my experience cats are natural hunters. From the age of a kitten they will stalk, hunt and kill. I am an advocate of in-door cat ownership. The cats live longer and so does the bird population.

I don't know about elsewhere but I can tell you here in San Diego County coyotes kill just about any dog or cat they can catch.