Installed Homemade Beaver deceiver

[HawkinsHollow]

I have about 14 acres of bottom land with a 4 acres pond, pond has resident beavers. I don't mind them being there as they do not seem to eat the trees on my property. I have only seen 1 tree that had noticeable beaver damage on all 14 acres. So until that changes I will try to live in harmony with them. I do mind their small dam upstream of my pond that floods out 3 or 4 acres 1 to 2 feet deep. So the fight has begun. I installed a homemade beaver deceiver yesterday. It is about as dry as it could possibly be around here which made installation much easier.

I understand the pipes should be at least 3 or 4 feet longer but it is what I had on hand so we'll see how it works. The outflow should be underneath the normal winter level of my pond so there should not be much sound of running water. If there is I can always add a 90 deg. to get it there. The land is unusable in it's flooded state, I look forward to seeing how this works. Up until this spring there was no easy access to this area, therefore, it was very hard to monitor so it was just easier to let them do their thing. Now I can ride my 4 wheeler or tractor right to the spot, and I want my land back. So I will be closely monitoring the situation and will be ramping up my defense according to how things pan out. Defensive connibear traps are not completely out of the question.

As a side note, I am considering harvesting a few beavers per year for their pelts. In Georgia there is no closed season on beaver and you can trap or shoot them day or night. Populations are exploding due to a lack of predation and trapping This bottomland is along a medium sized creek with beaver ponds all along it's length so I think there is a rather large beaver population, more than likely too large. There are at least 3 or 4 lodges within a mile of my property. I think one could harvest a couple beavers and not put a dent in the population considering each female has an average of 4 kits. I have read quite a bit on the subject and most people consider it too much work. But I might try it until it becomes tiresome and too much work. By then I'll have a nice pile of pelts to play with.

 

[oosik]

You could be fortunate and the beavers might not plug those pipes. A small "band" of beavers plugged a four foot diameter culvert under the county road, here. Nobody was too concerned until the creek began washing over the paved county road. It took a large tracked backhoe to unplug the culvert.

It took the beavers exactly three days to plug the culvert a second time. Fish & Game was called - they trapped and relocated the beavers.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

You could be fortunate and the beavers might not plug those pipes. A small "band" of beavers plugged a four foot diameter culvert under the county road, here. Nobody was too concerned until the creek began washing over the paved county road. It took a large tracked backhoe to unplug the culvert.

It took the beavers exactly three days to plug the culvert a second time. Fish & Game was called - they trapped and relocated the beavers.

It's hard to see in the picture but there is a cage built around the inlet pipes. "They" say that the beavers will not go in the cage to plug the inlet. If they do I'll wrap it with barbed wire. We'll see about the outlet

 

[Jstpssng]

It will be interesting to see how it works out, they really are pernicious little buggers. You have the right idea though, hopefully it will work. (Although I am curious what they are eating, if they aren't bothering your trees.)

 

[HawkinsHollow]

It will be interesting to see how it works out, they really are pernicious little buggers. You have the right idea though, hopefully it will work. (Although I am curious what they are eating, if they aren't bothering your trees.)

I know! I have done a lot of research on this forum and other websites. Most people's biggest complaint is they eat up the trees. I have seen a few with bark damage but only one with the trademark beaver tree gnawing. I am surrounded by bottomland linked by creek and beaver ponds, maybe there are more palatable trees elsewhere. Time will tell!

 

[buck12]

Please update this thread as to how your approach works. We have battled the demons for years. We take out about five a year but more move in. They can plug an 18 inch culvert overnight. My problem is they plug the culvert then water washes the road. It is a battle that I know goes back to my grandfather when I was a kid and maybe even my great grandfather.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Please update this thread as to how your approach works. We have battled the demons for years. We take out about five a year but more move in. They can plug an 18 inch culvert overnight. My problem is they plug the culvert then water washes the road. It is a battle that I know goes back to my grandfather when I was a kid and maybe even my great grandfather.

Check out the clemson leveler or a beaver pond leveler. Done right, they are supposed to really work. It can also be used with culverts. Mine is not a very elegant one, but it is what I had on hand. We'll see if it works, might need to lengthen pipes some. I think it will slow them down enough to where I can add other defensive mechanisms. My goal is to just dewater these couple acres. Luckily right now it is bone dry, so maybe they will accept the new state of affairs rather than the drastic change that comes with knocking out their dam.

 

[buck12]

I am not sure the Clemson leveler will work in my situation as the beavers are simply damming a culvert. However the trapezoidal fence I saw in one of the videos on the Clemson leveler may work. I am going to give it a try as soon as it is cold enough that the Water Moccasins are less active. Thanks for the information.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would be more concerned with the pipes washing out from heavy rains than from beavers plugging them. I put in a 12" culvert in a creek bypass drain and covered it with gravel and it still washed out in heavy rains. I have an earthen dam in a creek and nature made a bypass cut that left an island, hence the culvert. It didn't work. I think your pipes will do the same thing with the first heavy rain.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I would be more concerned with the pipes washing out from heavy rains than from beavers plugging them. I put in a 12" culvert in a creek bypass drain and covered it with gravel and it still washed out in heavy rains. I have an earthen dam in a creek and nature made a bypass cut that left an island, hence the culvert. It didn't work. I think your pipes will do the same thing with the first heavy rain.

That is very possible. However, they are in a very low gradient drainage, not much velocity to the water coming in. Also, I dug a bit of a pool above the pipes to allow some water to collect there, slowing the velocity of the water down even more. This whole thing is one big experiment and I am excited to see how it turns out. Ya see I like solving problems and making progress developing my land into a usable viable space from the neglected overgrown jungle it has been for 10 years, this is just one small step in that direction. If this doesn't work, we'll figure out something that does.