Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Watching beavers
• Part 2 of 3: Luring into a trap
• Part 3 of 3: Reducing the impact of beaver activity (non-lethal)
• Tips
• Warnings

Beavers can be a big nuisance when they change the topography of an area, when they block streams of water and change its direction. They also dump trees for food with their teeth and use them to build dams and their rookeries. If you don't want to hire a professional to get rid of this animal, there are some relatively simple ways to do it yourself.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Watching beavers

1. 1 Check local hunting restrictions. There are specific periods, and only during them can you go beaver hunting. Before you decide to go beaver fishing, make sure you study the restrictions that apply to your area.
   • If you are a property owner who is having problems with beavers on your property, you can get a permit to get rid of the pest. Go to the nearest wildlife management department.
2. 2 Find places where beavers can live. This is where you are most likely to find them. This means: Look in areas that are comfortable to build beaver houses and dams and have the right food sources.
   • Beavers need a source of water all year round. The places where you are most likely to find beavers are streams, lakes, ponds, swamps and low-lying areas in lowlands or swamps. In urban areas, they are often found in roadside ditches, drainage pits, and sewage ponds.
   • Beavers are herbivores and their diet changes seasonally, so if you are tracking a beaver at the appropriate time (November to March) you should look for a winter and spring diet.
   • In winter, beavers prefer to eat amber, ash, poplar, pine, as well as birch, willow, and aspen. Look in areas where these types of trees grow in large numbers, as well as where there is a year-round source of water.
   • In the spring, beavers will be more likely to eat aquatic plants and green shoots, so keep an eye out for areas that have a source of water for aquatic plants.
3. 3 Look for evidence of the presence of a beaver. There should be obvious signs of a beaver. They tend to cut trees by cutting the trunks with their teeth at a 45-degree angle. The cut trees look like an hourglass, which is quite noticeable.
   • Along with the fallen trees, you will see a lot of wood chips and stumps.
   • You will also see the drops or lodges that the beavers build on the shore. These are, as a rule, large piles of branches intertwined on the water with an underwater entrance. They can be up to 3 meters high and up to 1.5 meters wide. But not all beavers live in houses. Some of them live in burrows along the river or pond, away from the body of water. If so, you will need to look for other signs of the beaver's habitat.
4. 4 Look for beaver tracks. Beavers leave specific footprints in the areas where they live. Paw marks and droppings can tell you that you are in the right place.
   • Beavers have unique footprints that can be difficult to distinguish, as their wide, flat tails and the branches they drag along with them can hide the footprints. Instead of looking for the tracks themselves, look for places where something was dragged (for example, a fat branch).
   • Most likely, the places where you will find the actual beaver tracks are in the mud at the edge of a water source (river, pond, etc.). They look like small human hands (usually 6 to 8 cm long) with five fingers.
   • You can also look for wood chip mounds. However, beavers usually hide their excrement underwater, so it's harder to find them than the more obvious evidence (fallen trees and paths created by dragging branches).
5. 5 Find a place to set the trap. There are several different locations that are suitable for setting a beaver trap. You can find a dam entrance or a house and set a trap there if the water is shallow enough. Otherwise, you will have to find a beaver path.
   • Find the beaver track. Beavers, like most animals, have habits. They tend to follow the same paths in water and on land. If there is a dam that separates two ponds, set a trap at the top of the dam because the beaver will go through that dam.
   • Find shallow water near a dam or cabin. Find a narrow trough in shallow water. These depressions are usually empty, there is no debris in them, so beavers like them. Place the trap in this exact spot. If the water is over 25 cm, lay the log across so that the beaver is forced to dive.
   • If you find the entrance to the beaver's den in shallow water (30 cm or less), this is the best place to set a trap. This will be less noticeable and more effective, since the beaver will have to enter and leave the house here.

Part 2 of 3: Luring into a trap

1. 1 Use the trap to trap the body. This is the best beaver trap, especially if you are new to the craft. You cannot catch a beaver and move it, so you need to try to get it to leave your zone or kill it. A grappling trap is the best way to do it.
   • Conyber is considered to be the best trap of this type. It is the easiest and safest to use.
2. 2 Prepare the trap before setting it up. If you have a new trap, it will be coated with grease, which makes it unsafe to handle. To make sure it is easy to handle and less noticeable when you install it, you must get rid of the grease beforehand.
   • Soak the trap in hot, soapy water, then rinse. After rinsing it, soak it in a mixture of hot water and frozen salt. Place the trap outdoors to dry for about two days. It will corrode and be more effective at catching beavers.
3. 3 Set the trap properly. Again, the Conyber is the most efficient, easy-to-use and safest type of beaver trap. However, this means that you need to install it correctly, otherwise you may end up injuring yourself. Read the instructions that came with the trap, because not all of them are installed in the same way as the conibear.
   • The trap consists of 2 springs (twisted wires on each side), 2 fuses (hooks hanging from a spring), 2 jaws (square or rectangular in the body of the trap), 1 trigger (a lock hanging from the trap) and 1 lock (at the top jaws). Make sure you identify the different parts of the trap so you know how to set it up.
4. 4 Take the installation spring. It should be aimed away from the trap. Grasp and squeeze the spring. The spring creates a force that throws the animal into the trap when the mechanism is triggered.
5. 5 Install the frame properly. Hold the frame with one hand while keeping the spring compressed with the other. Place a grip on the jaws to hold them together, or tie them with a rope.
6. 6 After making sure that the trigger is in the groove, engage the compressed spring and slowly release the frames. If you are using a grapple or rope, release them as well.
7. 7 Place a trap. No matter where you place it, on the waterway or near the den, you should place it upright with a trap lock at the very top. You can attach springs to keep the sticks upright, or simply tie them together.
   • You may need to build a small frame from the individual parts of the trap holder in an upright position, and also block the beaver from being able to bypass the trap. Consider the area of ​​the trap and the method for setting it.
8. 8 Check the trap. Check it regularly (every couple of days). You don't want to see a dead beaver that attracts other animals. Once you have killed a creature, you must use it so that the wool and meat are not wasted.

Part 3 of 3: Reducing the impact of beaver activity (non-lethal)

1. 1 Wrap the trees with wire mesh or other heavy sheet metal or wire. Wrap the bases at least 90 cm upward. This will keep the beavers from eating or using trees. You will need to check the trees to make sure the beavers have left them alone.
   • You can also make wire fences to prevent beavers from getting inside (especially around the pond). You can also place nets over culverts and the like to keep out beavers.
2. 2 Destroy the dam or house. Sometimes, by completely destroying the dam or the beaver's house, and also by excluding access to them, you can get rid of the beaver. You must make sure that you remove all dams so that the beaver cannot access them for rebuilding.
   • Use a reliable potato rake and work from the side to completely destroy the dam or cabin.
   • You should check the entire area next to the dam or house to make sure that the beaver will not restore it and that there is no material to restore it.
3. 3 Use a repellent. There is only one repellent that has been found to be effective in eradicating and damaging beavers. This is tiram. You will need to apply the repellent directly to the leaves and shrubs that the beaver uses as a food source.
   • It is good to use this method in conjunction with others, such as destroying dams and rookeries and then spraying thiram on food sources.
   • There are other repellents and sprays that you can use to keep beavers from being in the area if they haven't already, but only the tyram will get rid of them if they already are.
4. 4 Monitor the water level. There are several different ways to control the water level so that it does not become favorable for the beaver's dwelling. You can make the water flow so that the water level remains low, or you can keep the water away from debris or anything that might prevent water flow.
   • Buy a drain pipe and install it with two plastic drain pipes together and perforation on one of them. Depending on the volume of water, the pipe diameter can be 10, 15, 20 or 25 cm.
   • Dig a hole in the beaver dam along the original channel. Install three-quarters of the pipe at almost any level of the dam, and also widen the perforated edge in the water (upstream). Apply weight to one end of the pipe.
   • Allow about one quarter of the pipe to expand on the outlet side of the dam.
   • Add approximately 2.5 cm of dynamic range to the perforated side of the pipe so as to prevent blockage of the inlet end of the pipe.

Tips

• You can also use a water trap or a fulcrum trap, but the latter can only be used if you are an experienced hunter.
• If you are going to eat beaver meat (which you must do if you don’t want it to go to waste), you will need to avoid the viscera and glands at the base of the tail that can contaminate the meat. You should also remove as much fat as possible. Beaver meat works well for barbecues, stews, or roasts.
• Currently, there are few markets for beaver skins, but they still exist.

Warnings

• Beaver fishing may be restricted or even prohibited in some countries and regions.
• Watch for wear and tear on the trap, because beavers can be dangerous, especially if you are trapping them.