not Beaver Cleaver

[Den Socling]

We live along Pine Creek and have seen beavers while paddling a few miles upstream a few years ago. Last year, a beaver lodge appeared just a little way up stream. Patti normally takes our dog for a walk down to the creek at dusk. She sees mink, otters, etc. She has been seeing what she thought were beavers. Last night she came up on an adult and two young ones. The adult made the tail slap and there was no more question. We have beavers on our bank. I took a look and they have been chewing river willows. They can have all they want. I just hope they don't come up into the yard and start dropping trees. I've seen that while paddling, also.

[LittleJohn]

I have seen Beaver waddle past perfectly good poplar, and chew off a White Oak (24"+ stump); on my dads 40
...needless to say, trapping was VERY successful the next fall; old man has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to his OAKS

[WV Sawmiller]

   My mom in N. Fla used to do a running battle with them. She'd clean around some special tree she wanted to save and come back the next day to find a pencil shaped stump. I think the road department finally paid a trapper to come get them as they were backing up the highway run-off.

   Years ago I was stationed in Albany Ga and fishing up on Lake Worth on a side slough with a big beaver hut dug into the bank. As I passed it the mother beaver started splashing like crazy in front of me. Did that for several minutes sort of like a mama quail playing injured to lead me away. When I got far enough away I saw a trail of bubbles line out under my boat back to the hut. She made so much racket she was disturbing the fishing so her antics worked.

   They aren't bad eating but they are the hardest animal I ever skinned as the hide sticks to the skin so tight you have to cut it away. Will not separate from the meat like the hide on most animals.

   They had a dike about a foot high and over 1/4 mile long down in the Escambia River swamp where I used to coon hunt to raise the water level that much more. Amazing when you think they had to grab a scoop of mud, hold it against their chest and swim to the dike and pack it in. That's a lot of mud to move by hand in such small amounts.

[Den Socling]

No two ways about it. They are industrious!

[Chuck White]

If you have trees that you don't want to lose, put a chicken wire cage around them, about 2' high!

[Den Socling]

Patti was walking our dog and discovered that the beavers have moved up on the bank.


 

This is right next to where we have fires.


 

She planted a Magnolia down there during the summer. I asked her what if the beavers cut down her tree. She said it would be beaver season and I think she's serious!  :D

[thecfarm]

I had some guy that trapped beaver that came into the store. I got a hunk of beaver from him. I think it was about 2 pounds. The wife cooked it the same way she does a pot roast. Besides the meat being dark,it tasted just about like a pot roast. If the meat would of been a lighter color,I would of thought it was a pot roast.

[sawguy21]

No two ways about it. They are industrious!

And stubborn. We would bust their dams and they were back at it the following night flooding our haul roads.

[Peter Drouin]

Doing what they're here for. Had a customer tell me about his 20 acre pond with an earth dam. The state made him breach it after years of fighting with the state.
Beavers move in and made the nices dam you ever seen. The way the law reads the state could not do a thing about it.
He has his pond back. I have seen them make nice habitat for wildlife. ;D

[Czech_Made]

I watch beavers when I am hunting sometimes.  They break the ice from under, quite interesting.

[Logger RK]

It wouldn't hurt to wrap chicken fence wire around them trees if you don't want the Beavers to cut or damage them. In one night they can do a lot of damage.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I studied Wildlife Biology at AU. I remember pictures where people tried to install overflows in beaver dams. They put a box with chainlink fence wire around it to keep the beavers from getting to it. The beavers stopped up every hole in the wire to block the water. They kept removing the plugs so finally the beavers built an inverted horseshoe around the overflow to hold the water back. They are going to stop the water and are harder workers than anyone I know.

[Den Socling]

"They kept removing the plugs so finally the beavers built an inverted horseshoe around the overflow to hold the water back."
Don't you have to wonder how creatures can be so smart?
I think I'll put some chicken wire around the Magnolia, at least. Even though I think Magnolias are dirty trees!  :D