254 permits to kill beavers issued from Modoc to San Joaquin counties in the last 20 months. And for what incurable crimes you ask? The vast majority weren’t for complicated levee damage or hard to protect culverts. Most were for something 2 boy scouts and a role of wire would have solved. See for yourself. Damage to vegetation is apparently the primary complaint, accounting for 36% of all permits.
Many of the permits said something like “We tried wrapping trees but it didn’t work.” Not sure why it didn’t work? But I remember the orange plastic fencing Bakersfield ‘said’ they tried over and over and can imagine.
Apparently it’s a skill that eludes most of California. Often the officer giving the permit noted that educational pamphlets were given for ‘next time’. It didn’t specify who the instructions were given too, but I don’t think the beavers read them closely enough.
Successfully wrapping a tree is less complicated than wrapping a present or a ho ho. But here are the methods.
Note that the tree needs to be protected to the height of 3 or 4 feet – more if the snow level is going to raise them up. The tree needs to be left room to grow. And don’t use chicken wire because beavers are way bigger than chickens. The second photo uses latex paint mixed with mason sand painted directly onto the trunk. The recipe is here:
Abrasive Tree Paint Protection
1. Paint: Exterior Latex (choose a color to match the bark) 2. Mason Sand (30 mil or 70 mil) 3. Formula Mix 5 oz sand per quart of paint, or 4. Mix 20 oz sand per gallon of paint, or 5. Mix 140 gm sand per liter of paint.Make only in small batches at a time on the day you are going to apply it. Using too much sand will cause the mixture to roll off the tree. Apply paint to bottom three to four feet of tree trunk. For best results, do not paint every tree, leaving some for beaver food. This formula does not work for saplings, so protect them with wire fencing. This will need to be reapplied every couple of years, and in areas of snowfall you will need to cover for feet above the snowline.
Protect larger areas of crops or vineyards with electric wire around the area.
Or you can just get a permit to kill them. Apparently in California it’s easy.
