Having a problem with beaver

[Slappy]

We are actually dealing with a beaver problem on our land as well. When we had our timber cruise done, they guy counted 3 families of beavers. We heard from him as well as our Wildlife and Fisheries guy that trapping beavers is the way to go. Hire someone to come and do it professionally and you will get rid of all of them. If you start shooting them you will never get rid of them. Good luck!

[Louisb]

If they look like rats or a little bigger, they are likely muskrats, not beavers.

For the person with beaver problem, you may want to look into snares also.

Supposedly ( I have no personal experience here) they smoke up into so great BBQ with a little effort.

Considering their diet, they should be good eating.

A whole lot more selective in what they eat than say a . . . chicken

Edited March 10, 2012 by TCLouis

[DaveS]

I used to have a friend who baked them with sweet potatoes. Never tried it myself though.

[Guest RobThatsMe]

I had the same problem with beaver on my property in Maine.

They took down a lot of trees, but the most damage was caused by the dam that they built.

Their homemade pond killed dozens of trees that were drowned by the water.

This pond that they built interfered with the natural protected watershed area, and the Maine Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife trapped and removed them to another spot.

Rob

[Guest BungieCord]

Muskrats do not fell trees or build dams.

You have to kill the animals. Their building a dam is like staking a claim, and it's not for nothing we say "busy as a beaver." I've seen 50 yards of dam ripped out with a backhoe where they'd built their own private lake in LA (that'd be the wiregerass, not la-la land) and the beavers repaired it overnight. The water level was back to where they preferred it within 48 hours.

[dickenscpa]

I live in Lebanon, work in Nashville. I'll make a deal with you. I'll come over and shoot your beavers and haul off the carcass, if you can come over and help me with moles. I've set traps, killed the grubs - etc. I live in a neighborhood and can't shoot them. Of course I never see them to shoot them, just the damage they leave behind.

They are ruining my lawn. Also, I spent a fortune putting up a fancy black fence in the back lawn and they have burrowed around my walk-in gate and boogered it up.

Brad

[sjames90]

I live in Lebanon, work in Nashville. I'll make a deal with you. I'll come over and shoot your beavers and haul off the carcass, if you can come over and help me with moles. I've set traps, killed the grubs - etc. I live in a neighborhood and can't shoot them. Of course I never see them to shoot them, just the damage they leave behind.

They are ruining my lawn. Also, I spent a fortune putting up a fancy black fence in the back lawn and they have burrowed around my walk-in gate and boogered it up.

Brad

I'm in the same boat dickenscpa. Moles ruining my yard. Sorry to derail the topic.

[StPatrick]

I'm in the same boat dickenscpa. Moles ruining my yard. Sorry to derail the topic.

Sorry to revive an old thread, and then continue the O/T, but I killed a bunch of moles with my dad years ago, so I guess I'll share how we did it (and it is a "we" thing - it takes two people). First, if possible, you need to drop some Ortho to kill all the grubs in the yard. This can drive the moles to your neighbors' yards, saving you the effort of killing them, which tends to be a pain in the nether regions. If the Ortho doesn't work, you need two shovels, beer, and patience. When dad and I did this, I wasn't old enough to drink, but it appeared that he enjoyed the beer, so it should be part of any well-formed plan.

First, stomp down all the tunnels in the area you'll be "hunting". This is so you can see them as they move - when they're active, you'll see the tamped-down dirt be raised up. Once you see movement, one person drives his (or her, this being 2012) spade deep into the soil right behind the area of activity. Once that's done, the second person uses their shovel to flip Mr. Mole into daylight - be quick about it, as he is WAY faster than he looks. Allow a moment for him to see the sun, as he's about to go into the light on a permanent basis, so it's important that he should know what it looks like. Once he's on the grass, person #2 uses their shovel to whomp the pi$$ (technical term, I'm a scientist) out of him. Repeat as needed until you are out of beer or moles.

[Guest BungieCord]

...First, if possible, you need to drop some Ortho to kill all the grubs in the yard....

I thought it was Savin.

[Guest ochretoe]

I trapped beavers for side money for years. Snares worked best for me, you just have to check them every day because they don't kill the beaver. Take a .22 with you and pop them once snared. Beaver is good bar-b-q'd but the tail is all fat. They are also a b1tch to skin.

As for moles, mix red devil lye with honey 50/50. Open a small hole in a mole run and pour the mix into it and cover it back up. Moles use the same runs like roads. When the mole comes back thru the run the honey and lye stick to it and kill it. Do this in several places and the moles will be gone in a month.