Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Beaver Removal (or otter)

Hi everyone! First-time poster and question for you all. I think I have sign of beaver and or otter in a pond here in East Texas. Have you all had any luck with trapping services? Any chance anyone has used these guys (Reel Texas Outdoors) and can vouch for them? Thank you in advance.


East Texas Beaver Removal and Trapping Service

Welcome to Pond Boss. Trapping beaver and otter is not hard to learn to do. Buy a couple of traps and watch YouTube on how to . Don't know about the referenced service.

Here is a link

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=353953&page=1

If you value any part of your hand or arm DO NOT try to use a Conibear trap on your own. Call a professional. They're not easy to trap either.

Watch a Youtube video on a Conibear trap!!!! That's a good one.

The conibear trap is very effective and I found the beavers to be really easy to predict and trap, I havent had as much luck with otters.
You will need to get the tool to set them, then leave the safety hooks installed till everything is in place the way you want it then reach in with the tool and unhook them.
You might be the professional before you know it! Good Luck!

Trapping non pressured critters is pretty easy. Most of the traps you will use are easy to set. For a beginner when using a conibear bring someone with that can operate the trap setters just encase you get your self. I have been trapping for a while. I have had conibears sized from 110 to 220 get me, but never a 330. The main reason is because I use the safeties and pay so close attention while using the big boys. The smaller traps I have gotten trapped by where because I was rushing through the set. I learned pretty quick to take my time lol. Beavers are easy to trap because you can fence them in pretty good (funnel them in with sticks). Usually beavers are easy to tell if they are there. Just look for chewed sticks and stacks of sticks. Otters can be harder to trap because some do not take well to fencing. There scat will have a lot of scales in it and there will be multiple piles in an area (toilet). You can use a conibear for both and I would try to just set it in there slide (where they go in and out of water). If they are trap shy then you can switch to a foothold drowning rig setup. Which can be more involved but has high success rates for me at least. When setting traps the most important thing is getting your trap sturdy. Also make sure you check your trapping laws to make sure your legal but your in Texas and have way better rules than we do lol.

To answer the original question. You are not asking them to trap a hard critter to catch. If it is beaver they are extremely easy to trap out, so I would imagine they would get the job done quickly. So if you do not want to try it yourself then I would give them a call. One last thing if you have pets like dogs keep them very far away when trapping. They love the smell of all the bait and lures. Hope some of this gibberish helped.

Good advice about the safety hooks. Add to that self locking trap setters, and it makes the process much easier, and safer. Esshup got me started years ago, and now I can pretty much trap whatever I need to. I use snares in tall grass, and conibears on hut entrances and slides. Beavers, nutria, and otters all fall to conibears if set correctly.

If you're knowledgeable and respectful of the traps, then go for it. If you're tentative or uncomfortable using it, then don't do it yourself. As was said, tons of info on YouTube.

The beauty of beavers is you don't have to carry around as much materials, if you are anywhere near their den, they will supply you with plenty of skinned pre-sharpened stakes, about 30 inches long, you can stick them in the ground and create a fence like funnel straight into your trap, and I use the home made stakes to stake the trap into its upright position. just make sure to secure the trap to something solid so it doesn't get drug off but I have never seen one go anywhere, barely needing an anchor.
I agree, if you are going to mess with the big 330s make sure you have a locking setting tool, it makes them pretty easy to set, but they do command a bunch of respect, if they close down on one of your extremities you will have a rough time removing it by your self.

Wow, thank you guys for the great info and responses. Duly noted regarding the conibear traps... I definitely do not want to end up in one of those things! Thank you all again for the terrific information and responses. This is clearly a great forum community.

Rustic where in East Texas are you?

My trapper fom Canton, Tx has trapped three beavers at our place this year already.

Here is one from Feb 13, 2024