Beavers gnawing problem on farmland

[webfoot]

Beavers gnawing problem on farmland

Jul 22, 2004
By David Wallace
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Americans of a certain age may recall Bucky Beaver, the cheerful, furry, buck-toothed TV pitchman for Ipana Toothpaste in the 1950s. For many urban viewers, those ads supported an unrealistic image of the beaver as a cuddly, lovable creature.

Real-life beavers are many things to humans, but household pet is not one of them.

“Beavers can be a very beneficial species, or they can be a very detrimental species,” says Becky McPeake, wildlife specialist with the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. “It just depends on your needs. If you have trees, if you have crops, beavers may be your enemy.”

Nobody has to tell that to Gary Bredlow, a rice, soybean and wheat producer in southeast Pulaski County, Ark. “That beaver has one objective, and that’s to gnaw on timber and stop up ditches,” says Bredlow, who estimates beaver dams have plugged every culvert on his 2,000-acre farm since the first beavers arrived there in the 1960s.

“He isn’t anything but a 60-pound rat with a flat tail.”

The beaver is indeed a rodent, a large amphibious one, in such demand for its fur in the 18th and 19th centuries that it was nearly trapped into extinction. The beaver population in Arkansas began to replenish in the mid-20th century and is on the increase now, though an exact count is hard to quantify.

The sociological structure of the beaver’s life is similar to that of humans, in that it tends to be monogamous and live in single-family units. Beavers work tirelessly as a team, responding to the irrepressible instinct to create a pond — a habitat that is safer and more comfortable for them.

They drag almost any nearby vegetation — trees, limbs, twigs and agriculture crops — to the spot in the stream where it’s easiest to stanch the flow of water with a dam.

That’s not all bad for landowners, especially those who want to attract wetland waterfowl such as ducks and marsh birds.

“I’ve even had a call from someone wanting to capture a beaver and relocate it for that very purpose,” McPeake says. “That’s not legal, because of concerns with transporting diseases (such as tularemia and Giardia).”

But the beaver’s instinctive and unceasing dam-building activity can also destroy farmland and timberland, costing landowners many thousands of dollars. Their activities often flood roadways by stopping up road ditches and drain pipes.

There are several ways to deal with nuisance beavers. The Arkansas Extension Service recommends trapping for problem animals. Information on traps and techniques are contained in an Extension fact sheet, Beaver Damage Prevention and Control Methods, available at county Extension offices.

“Trapping is the most effective method if you have some knowledge of the beaver’s habits. And it should be done humanely.”

Beaver season runs from mid-November through March, but nuisance beavers can be trapped any time with the proper permit from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Night shooting is also an option, but permits are required.

Some landowners choose to dynamite the lodge or dam, but that seldom proves permanently effective because of the beaver’s amazing capacity to rebuild quickly. Removing building materials — especially willow, cottonwood, and sweet gum trees near banks — can encourage the animal to move on.

Installing water displacement devices, such as a perforated pipe like the Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler, eases water underneath the dam without calling the beaver’s attention to it, and helps prevent field flooding.

Bredlow’s self-devised method is to dig a trench in the ditch and partially fill it with larger rocks on the bottom, smaller rocks and gravel on top to create a low-water crossing. Then the dam the beaver builds on top of that is easily raked off with a backhoe.

David Wallace is an Extension communications specialist with the University of Arkansas.

[dukbum]

wut your local beaver might say to you.....

[fivemile]

They are killing me on my risers when I pull the boards. And the wild hogs do almost as much damage.

[mallardchaser]

And the wild hogs do almost as much damage

That's no bs on that statment....The pigs are more fun to shoot and taste pretty good too...

[mudsucker]

Veryinformative post, Benmiester!

[eastwoods]

I had a big surprise this weekend. Seems like the NWR pulled a pipe in a road going to my place and others and basically made the road a giant ditch with gravel in the bottom.

I called the Manager of the refuge and he said that he wasn't going to allow a pipe to be plugged by beavers. Didn't want his harwoods flooded.

When I told him the water was just as deep on the other side of the pipe he responded that he was going to control the beaver everywhere.

I thought how stupid is this guy, but didn't say anything mean. Just expressed my concerns that he would have to bust a bunch of dams routinely to keep it open so that people could drive down this road in the nicest way I could.

I mean he took out 5 feet of road for about 30 yards. He said it would never flood again. I said I hoped he was right, but that there would be a lot of complaining if he was wrong. Then he said something about the road was NWR in this particular area and not public and I decided to say goodbye before it got real nasty.

People been driving down this road for over 50 years and people used to live down this road. Someone sells 40 acres to the refuge and the road is on it and they think they can do whatever they please.

Control the beaver, yea right. I hope they buy your book.

[eastover53]

As a farmer, I understand quite well the cause and effects of poor drainage, and beavers tend to make matters worse. Benny, I can appreciate your views and comments on how to properly construct drainage systems, however, I don't have the resources available to reconstruct my drainage systems. And my neighbor's drainage systems, and my neighbor's neighbor's drainage systems (the majority of my land has to drain through someone else). If they don't have good drainage, then I don't have good drainage. I had someone give me an estimate on a drainage project that would improve the drainage on about 650 acres. Cost of project: $80,000+/-. Don't know if I'll do it or not, but ,just for the sake of argument, let's say I do. If I spend that kind of money on something like that, I don't want a beaver coming near my place. To say that I shouldn't trap beavers, and I'm ignorant for not spending thousands to have my ditches redone is crazy. If you had termites in your house, I wouldn't try to tell you that you were stupid and you should have built your house out of cinder blocks.
If someone wants to loan me a track-hoe and an operator for a few months, I'd appreciate it. You would be saving the lives of quite a few beavers. Otherwise, I'll just keep feeding them dy-no-mite sammiches.

[big gumbo]

Benny, what do you mean she don't know nothing about beavers, She's got one


I know of three damn good duck hunting holes due to the creation of beaver ponds, so damn good, in fact the farmers let them F**kers be. Didn't cost them a dime and lord knows they didn't have to ask DU for help.

I, in fact, have found a beaver pond on a creek here in the Ozark National Forest that is full of ducks and a fantastic spot for a sporty little shoot before work. After being a avid duck hunter all of my life, and having moved to hill outside of a flyway, I learned how to think outside of the box and found that opportunities abound even here. When I called the AG&F and asked if a certain area was opened for waterfowl hunting, they nearly chit their pants when I sent the regional office a picture of me standing by the sign constructed by the launch holding two mallards, two gaddies and a bufflehead to prove the point. One of they emailed me back saying to keep it quit cause the last thing they wanted to do up here is start checking for waterfowl violations on every cow pond thats close to a river up here.

[DuckyDan]

Here's an interesting article:

University Relations
News Bureau (662) 325-3442
Contact: Maridith Geuder
July 16, 2004



STARKVILLE, Miss.--Torrential rains during June caused beavers to move from their normal habitats to seek new food and building materials, and Mississippi State researchers advise checking timberlands for damage now that rains have subsided.

Scientists at MSU’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center note that because of their aquatic nature, flat-tailed, sharp-toothed beavers require a habitat close to waterways.

“Most beaver-related damage reported in the Southeast is caused when beavers impound water in forested areas,” said Dale Arner, professor emeritus in the department of wildlife and fisheries. “Substantial beaver damage also occurs when beavers travel through flooded areas in search of wood for food and construction,” he added.

Fortunately, beavers have a taste for trees that typically are non-commercial: sweetgum, sugarberry and green ash. But Arner said they also will feast on marketable pine and oak species, usually preferring standing timber to felled trees.

“Beavers will pick trees less than 15 inches in diameter and cut out a section about the size of a pie plate,” Arner said. “Once sampled by beavers, the trees are susceptible to numerous insects and fungi,” he added.

Statewide, Mississippi landowners suffer more economic loss in stands of loblolly pine and sweetgum than in any other species damaged by beaver. In fact, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reports that beavers are responsible for water impoundment destruction and direct timber losses of $38 million annually in the state.

With millions of acres in Mississippi forestlands susceptible to beaver attack, landowners should take note and examine their trees as soon as possible, MSU experts say.

“If landowners find trees damaged by beavers, the best approach is to cut the tree and salvage the timber,” said Bruce Leopold, wildlife and fisheries department head.

To control future damage by beavers in timberlands, Leopold suggests installing fences and barriers around trees and painting trees with a sand and paint mixture that discourages beavers from chewing the trees.

For professional assistance with beaver control issues, Leopold recommends contacting the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Starkville by telephoning (662) 325-3014. A professional forester can advise about salvaging beaver-damaged timber.

For more information about beavers, telephone Dr. Leopold at 662-325-2615.

[sure shot]

man i looked a the pic of that beaver probably 10 times.....finally got it

[eastwoods]

They eat big ole sweetgums good over here. Willows are few and far between though in my area. They leave the oak, tupelo and cypress alone. I'd say Sweet Gum was the favorite if I had to guess of the soft hardwoods.

[hwy61DuckCamp]

Sounds like a job for CARL....of CaddyShack fame !

"Great big gobs of greasy grimy Beaver guts..."

Beaver Cong !!................ Was it The Duck Commander who said they are like the Viet Cong....they hide underground in the day..only come out at night....If you kill and destroy their family they just keep coming back ?

Honestly...if it werent for the beavers...my best duck hole probly would not exist ! Nature's little engineers for shore...