Beaver has killed at least 8-Trees in a few weeks

[MossRoad]

Beaver eat the bark on softwood trees/brush. Hardwood trees are safe.

I don't think that's true. They eat poplar. Poplar is a hardwood. They eat cottonwood. That's a hardwood, too.

For the most part, any tree that loses it's leaves in the fall is a hardwood.

 

[MossRoad]

Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as pines and spruces.... that means naked seeds.

Hardwood is wood from dicot trees, that have flowers and seeds with shells, like acorns.

Hardwoods have pores in the wood. Softwoods don't.

Most hardwoods are hard and most softwoods are soft, but as mentioned, balsa is a hardwood and it's very soft, while douglas fir is a softwood and it is pretty hard. However, the hardest softwood is still softer than most hardwoods.

 

[Jstpssng]

Beaver eat the bark on softwood trees/brush. Hardwood trees are safe. People can easily learn to live with beavers in the area. Beavers can be a problem , most of the time if a person understands them the problem can be corrected. If you insist on fighting the beaver, perhaps you should look in the mirror and consider who was here 1st. Perhaps you should move back to the city where you will feel more to home.

Their favorite is actually aspen, then alders, but they will eat others if they have to. I don't believe that I have ever seen a softwood in a feed bed. Earlier today I came across where a beaver had been caught while taking down a small yellow birch tree, there wasn't much left but a little belly fur, the offal and castors. (Darn, I should have picked the latter up.) I would say that he put up a fight though, at least one of the 'yotes was losing blood.

 

[Jstpssng]

Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as pines and spruces.... that means naked seeds.

Hardwood is wood from dicot trees, that have flowers and seeds with shells, like acorns.

Hardwoods have pores in the wood. Softwoods don't.

Most hardwoods are hard and most softwoods are soft, but as mentioned, balsa is a hardwood and it's very soft, while douglas fir is a softwood and it is pretty hard. However, the hardest softwood is still softer than most hardwoods.

Hardwoods drop their leaves in fall, softwoods don't. The only exception is larch (aka Tamarack, Hackmatack, Juniper), which is a softwood yet sheds it's needles every year.

 

[MossRoad]

I don't think that's true. They eat poplar. Poplar is a hardwood. They eat cottonwood. That's a hardwood, too.

For the most part, any tree that loses it's leaves in the fall is a hardwood.

Hardwoods drop their leaves in fall, softwoods don't. The only exception is larch (aka Tamarack, Hackmatack, Juniper), which is a softwood yet sheds it's needles every year.

I think I said that in an earlier post.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
I missed that one, with your split post. :embarrassed:

I did manage to add about the tamarack shedding though.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Hardwoods drop their leaves in fall, softwoods don't. The only exception is larch (aka Tamarack, Hackmatack, Juniper), which is a softwood yet sheds it's needles every year.

Madrone is a broadleaf evergreen with deciduous bark, found widely on the West Coast below the 45th parallel. Eucalyptus has the same growth habit. Madrone is considered the premium firewood around here. It lights easy, burns hot, holds a good coal, and is clean to handle because the bark is paper thin. Judging from the beaver vote, it's not particularly edible, probably because of the thin cambium layer. Beaver prefer alder, willow, and wild plum.

 

[s219]

On my property, the beavers like to chew on oaks, beeches, and gums. They seem to leave the poplars and maples alone.

 

[PILOON]

A friend once remarked that he'd not have beaver problems at his place as he only had a small clump of cedars near the shoreline.
Couple weeks later he swore as the beavers decimated his only trees.

They must have been starving, that or they requisitioned for their dam.
LOL, being smart engineers they select cedar for the rot resistance. (Must have been specified in the dam plans)

 

[check]

On my property, the beavers like to chew on oaks, beeches, and gums. They seem to leave the poplars and maples alone.

Wow, that’s a surprise. At my place they attack the big poplars FIRST. Nice, thick bark. Had to cut down 17 of them myself, so that the beavers wouldn’t cut them down and have them fall on my big boat house.

 

[riptides]

Beaver eat the bark on softwood trees/brush. Hardwood trees are safe. People can easily learn to live with beavers in the area. Beavers can be a problem , most of the time if a person understands them the problem can be corrected. If you insist on fighting the beaver, perhaps you should look in the mirror and consider who was here 1st. Perhaps you should move back to the city where you will feel more to home.

Wahhhhh. Classic case of jumping to conclusions on your part. There is a lot more to the story of how and why Mr. Beaver ended up in my study.

 

[riptides]

On my property, the beavers like to chew on oaks, beeches, and gums. They seem to leave the poplars and maples alone.

On my current property everything is chewed. Seriously. Even cedar. They use whatever for damming. But then they go elsewhere. Happens every few years.

 

[oosik]

Moss Road - back a few posts you made a statement that certainly does not hold true here. You said that popular & cottonwood were hardwood types. Wow - around here there are popular, birch, alder & quakeing aspen. These are ALL very soft wood trees around here. Now Cottonwood - it's not only soft - it's a rotten type of wood. It will only grow in valleys/draws where it can get lots of water. It's not uncommon to have gigantic limbs on a Cottonwood to rot and fall off the main tree. Cottonwood will not even make good firewood. It rots and turns to dust even before it gets a chance to dry.

The only type of hardwoods around here would be something a person would plant in their yard. Homesteaders would some times plant Black Locust. Pretty sure that's a hardwood.

 

[Jstpssng]

. Granted there are variations and local nuances, yet Moss' description fits the accepted definition of a hardwood

 

[MossRoad]

Moss Road - back a few posts you made a statement that certainly does not hold true here. You said that popular & cottonwood were hardwood types. Wow - around here there are popular, birch, alder & quakeing aspen. These are ALL very soft wood trees around here. Now Cottonwood - it's not only soft - it's a rotten type of wood. It will only grow in valleys/draws where it can get lots of water. It's not uncommon to have gigantic limbs on a Cottonwood to rot and fall off the main tree. Cottonwood will not even make good firewood. It rots and turns to dust even before it gets a chance to dry.

The only type of hardwoods around here would be something a person would plant in their yard. Homesteaders would some times plant Black Locust. Pretty sure that's a hardwood.

Balsa is a hardwood. Douglas fir is a softwood. That's a fact. I can't help it. It's true.

Just because a wood is soft does not mean it's a softwood, and likewise, just because wood is hard does not make it a hardwood. That's the science behind it.

 

[Alan W.]

We had a couple move onto our pond a few years ago. They started on the sweet gums never touched anything else except for one oak they started on then quit. Wrapped my trees with wire mesh. They left after a few weeks. Nice to watch but very destructive.

 

[MossRoad]

...popular, birch, alder & quakeing aspen. ..... Cottonwood -

All of those tree species you listed are hardwoods. The term "hardwood" doesn't mean their wood is hard.

Hardwood vs Softwood - Difference and Comparison | Diffen

 

[riptides]

Beavers have to gnaw. They don't really ask for the vegetation type when they do it.

 

[rangerfredbob]

lol, very true.

In years where the water level is high on my property (not this year, it's about 1' lower than normal) there's a beaver that wanders up stream, one year he took out 6 poplars... didn't touch anything else. Tried like heck to shoot the bastage, have a friend that is a trapper and he didn't make it out to help but then the water level went down and he went down stream again...