Coming back from the conference one is left with this beaver haze. There are follow-up emails and last minute touches from people who wanted to say something appreciative but couldn’t find time in the moment. There are last minute ideas and connections. There’s a sense that, finally, everyone understands beaver value, and we are living in the golden age of beavers.
And then there you see things like this and come crashing back to earth.
Beaver problems in pond dams
Oklahoma State University- Not only do they build their own, but beavers can cause significant structural damage to pond dams. Dam problems can turn into big problems.
“The typical Oklahoma farm pond dam was built with too narrow of a top and is too steep sided,” said Marley Beem, Oklahoma State Univesrity Cooperative Extension aquaculture specialist. “Such ponds are at high risk of failing when animals burrow into the dam.”
“First, I would recommend calling USDA Wildlife Services to see if they might be able to send out a trapper,” Elmore said. “Beaver are not too difficult to trap if you have a little experience. But, if you miss them in a trap, they are very tough to get, so you need to get them on the first try.”
If Wildlife Services cannot help, pond owners can take matters into their own hands by trapping or night shooting.
“I advise shooting, as the only legal trap a private landowner can use is a leg hold trap in a drowning set, which is a little tricky,” he said. “Night shooting works well but you will need to call the county conservation officer and/or sheriff to let them know what you are doing.”
Using a shotgun is preferred and is much safer when shooting at water. Once the pest has been eradicated, repairs to the pond dam can commence.
Better hurry and get rid of them pesky beaver, you wouldn’t want them sticking around and improving the fish and birds on your property would you? How nice of the University system to offer advice for how to kill them. Higher education at its finest.
Honestly, why does Oklahoma even have a university anyway? They’re clearly aren’t capable of learning new things about beavers.
Marc Murrell: Leave it to ‘Big’ Beaver
Mark Brannock, 51, has been trapping in northeast Kansas since his days growing up in Perry. He admits that trapping for him isn’t necessarily about the money when he sells his furs, but a tie to conservation and simply a way of life passed on from previous generations.
“My biggest beaver ever was 72 pounds,” said Mark Brannock, 51, an avid furharvester who grew up in Perry. “I caught one this year almost as big and he was 71 pounds.”
Beavers don’t normally get quite that big.
“I’d say the average adult beaver weighs between 40 and 55 pounds and those are 3-plus years old,” said Matt Peek, furharvesting program coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. “One that big into the 70’s isn’t uncommon, but it’s atypical and that’s definitely towards the bigger end of what trappers are likely to run across.
“Beavers can get to over 100 pounds, but I don’t ever recall ever seeing one that big from Kansas,” Peek added.
There’s no shortage of beavers in the Sunflower State. They’re found in greatest numbers in the eastern part of the state as one might guess — that’s where most of the water is located. Peek admits the beaver population is generally good in those locations based on annual harvest data and damage complaints.
“They’re particularly fond of the same types of trees we are in a lot of cases, especially in suburban areas where people have nice, ornamental trees,” Peek said. “The beavers prefer to cut these down, rather than other undesirable species like cedar or hedge or locust.
“And maybe the bigger issue is most Kansas beavers don’t build a lodge and they live in bank dens so they can cause some problems with dams (bank erosion, etc.) and then the other problem is flooding and they can back up a lot of water in places in agricultural fields and flood different areas that landowners don’t wish to have flooded,” he added.
Kansas beavers don’t have a lot of natural predators, other than humans.
“Coyotes and bobcats will take them if they can get them on land, particularly the younger ones,” Peek said. “Or if a creek goes dry they’re pretty susceptible to predation from those two.”
Beavers, like many species of wildlife, are fairly short-lived animals.
“Most of them don’t make it beyond two years, but those that do are capable of living to 10-12 years or more,” Peek said.
Leave it to Kansas and Oklahoma to provide the reality check we need after a beaver conference that seemed to suggest that everyone has learned the things they need to know. Apparently Marc has been killing them so long he has concluded they only live for two years. That is a stunning bit of self-prophecy isn’t it?
Do you know when we were just starting out with beavers, before the beaver subcommittee even formed, the pretend expert who tried to tell our city all about them (Mary Tappel) told the the Gazette that they could breed for FIFTY years. I called the editor in alarm and asked whether that was a typo. He insisted it w as not and called Mary back to verify. At that time Mary was supposed to testify to the subcommittee, and ‘help’ answer our questions, but after that drama she decided we were too challenge-y and only met privately with city staff to spread her lies.
It all happened such a long time ago I practically forgot until I was talking to someone at the conference about it. Water under the bridge I guess. Anyway a trapper saying they never live longer than two years because I kill them myself is much more accurate. And I for one believe HIS story, don’t you?
Speaking of scientific errors, there’s a new illustrated book on the subject that Robin sent my way. And the artist chose a wonderful illustration for correlation not being the same as causation that I know you’ll admire. Thanks Robin!
