I am 100% positive that is a beaver. I caught about 18 (over the course of 3 years or so) in the stream right below my pond. they made dams every 75-100 yards. when the water backed up out of the stream banks, they kept adding sticks to form ponds. i never saw a stick any larger than 1.5" in diameter on any of their dams. i would use conibear 330 traps. beaver are really easy to catch. if you look around you will find his trails and slides. there is no need for any lure or bait. just put it in his path.
I killed 4 muskrats in 1 one week. i never saw a single stick they had gnawed on. i did see them swimming with grassy type vegetation in their mouth though.
All of this was at my old pond. I also caught and killed 6 otter there. here at my new house and pond so far only 1 beaver last year, 1 otter last year and 2 otters so far this year. I'd take a stick eater any day over an otter!
