Beaver issues??

[brin]

Old thread I know but yesterday my wife and I and my grandaughter went to our farm and just behind our lake there is a wet water creek and we spotted a beaver dam and 2 holes near it , the holes are about a foot in diameter and there are some dead trees down over the creek as well. My concern is the beavers burrowing holes through the dam and emtying the lake. I think I need to do something pretty quick like this weekend and my intial thoughts are to pour some diesel fuel in each hole, thinking the smell alone will drive them away and shoot some 12 ga. - 00 buck into each hole and destroy the dam...does that sound reasonable ? I figure since they are nocturnal they will probably be in their dens durring the day when I shoot the 12 ga. 00 buck in there..never hunted beaver before...Help !

 

[Treemonkey1000]

If you can get the diesel to burn after you dump it in the hole might help convince them to leave. You can call and see if there are any critter trappers in your area as well. They can punch holes in your **** but they would rather block up the water to swim and live in I think.

 

[riptides]

Go get some coni-bear beaver traps. Quick kill and you don't have to play the waiting game. Set it and check it once a day.

 

[Kernopelli]

Go get some coni-bear beaver traps. Quick kill and you don't have to play the waiting game. Set it and check it once a day.

Exactly. I've been down this road and traps are the easiest and fastest way to handle the problem. I learned this lesson first with a muskrat issue 6-7 yrs ago. I spent a couple of weeks trying to solve the problem with a .22, I finally set traps in their runs and within 2 days had every one of them.

 

[studor]

My concern is the beavers burrowing holes through the dam and emtying the lake

The beavers will not be ruining the dam -- they hear or sense water running and they plug it -- period. If you want to get rid of them for other reasons like they are taking down valuable trees, shoot them or trap them --the diesel will not do any thing but smell and leach into the water system

 

[forgeblast]

See if there is a local trappers association. you may find someone to trap them for free.

 

[SPYDERLK]

The beavers will not be ruining the dam -- they hear or sense water running and they plug it -- period. If you want to get rid of them for other reasons like they are taking down valuable trees, shoot them or trap them --the diesel will not do any thing but smell and leach into the water system

You think not? In our lake we didnt deal with them promptly because we didnt live at the property. Result: fhey plugged the drain pipe and dammed the spillway. The water was w/i inches of overflowing the dam - 8 feet above the top of the drainpipe. We had to start a siphon to get the level down enuf to clear the pipe.
larry

 

[dave1949]

You think not? In our lake we didnt deal with them promptly because we didnt live at the property. Result: fhey plugged the drain pipe and dammed the spillway. The water was w/i inches of overflowing the dam - 8 feet above the top of the drainpipe. We had to start a siphon to get the level down enuf to clear the pipe.
larry

I'll bet that kicked up your heart rate for bit! That would be a scary discovery.
Dave.

 

[JIGBUILDER]

See if there is a local trappers association. you may find someone to trap them for free.

Agree. A good source of trappers is your local game warden. Fed or state.
One big problem with beaver/muskrat getting into the dam is colapsing the dam from denning which eventually can lead to a leak. My son trapped with 2-3 other of his buddies all through high school during the fur season to make a little extra spending money. They found the conibear #330 worked best for beaver. Set it in a beaver slide or a entrance. Just follow the traps safety instructions as the 330 can take a finger. http://http://www.oneidavictor.com/conibeartraps.html

 

[ToadHill]

As far as the holes you saw burrowed in the side of the lake, my bet is muskrats. They burrow, beavers will build a dome shaped house with water all around it. They enter from under water and they hate the sound of running water and will do everything they can to dam it up.

They are trying to create a lake out of the creek. As other people said, if you want to get rid of them for other reasons, call a local trapper.