My Office Today

[Rally]

Actually we're doing pretty good Jim, eight pages and still talking about beaver usage, we just stepped around a couple centuries! The term "Mad as a Hatter" was actually a true statement or expression when it was coined. They used to use Mercury in tanning and felt making, which in turn was pretty tough on employees.
Beaver felt was graded by weight, and the more X's in the weight the heavier the felt. For example, if a hat was 3X, it required 3 blanket sized beaver (68-72") to make the felt from which that hat contained. Sad thing is, the hatter market is about the only viable market for beaver today. Stetson and similar hats are still made of beaver felt today. Pretty good promo video on the internet about how beaver felt is made.

 

[fiver]

man,,, I didn't know Beaver got 68-72 inches tall.
no wonder the mountain men that went after them back then are legends today.

 

[blackthorn]

This is one of my favorite threads!

 

[Rally]

Lamar,
They only get that big after the story teller has consumed about a pint of Moonshine, or was trapped in Texas!

I’ve been trying to catch beaver on a county road culvert. Easy a job as I’ve ever seen. I can just about fall out of the truck and land on the dam the beaver have built infront of a 36” culvert. I ‘be trying to catch one here for ten days to no avail. I have knocked holes in the dam and set traps at the dam break, only to come back to traps snapped with big wads of grass in the traps. Even tried setting two traps side by side, same result! Swim through sets with snares, snares knocked down with partially closed loops! Lured sets with footholds, weren’t disturbed nor worked at all. Well today I finally caught one there, what a monster!

It’s the one closest to the camera and still wet behind the ears! About the size of a football, most likely late born this summer. It should be the size of the one closest to the wall. The beaver in the middle is a 2.5 year old.
What all this tells me is there are probably three more just like the little there, and it’s parents have played this game before, and probably trap/ lure shy. So in short, it’s a good thing I get paid mileage, because this may take awhile! You know, just when you think it’s going to be easy!
Talked to county foreman today. Said he’s got a ditch he’s “ gonna put me in”, which he says is already flooded and all he can see is dam after dam! I like those kind of jobs.

 

[fiver]

might have to set out some rat traps for the little guys.

 

[Rally]

I actually considered that Lamar, only problem is mom or dad might get in then out of one of them. What I did was move the traps into shallower water and it worked. Caught a litter mate there today.

Started up a new ditch for the Forestry today. The forester I work for has been out in Ca. With a fire crew, and now quarantined for 5 days, but I can get him on the phone now. This ditch drains two lakes, and about 30 square miles of swamp, or is suppose to. I was standing on the road taking the picture, which has a 7’ pipe under it.

This is looking downstream.^

This looking upstream/north. Note the beaver dams upstream and flooded bank to the right (East). That's next, but not until I can get some water out of the downstream area first, or I'd have to be carrying the 4 wheeler for downstream and a canoe for upstream. Not gonna happen because the road coming in here sucks, an old chord road, and due to be redone next year. Trailers and chord roads are a poor combination.
Pretty nice access, with a firebreak road running on the east bank all the way to the river. Only problem is it hasn’t been maintained since I was in here three years ago. Spent 2.5 hours cutting in, with several wind blow downs and beaver chewed trees to cut out. One was a thorn (Thorny Crabapple) tree which is always fun to deal with.



Guess who did this one? ^

First dam heading downstream. ^


second dam headed downstream, which runs over to just about where that tree is hanging at an angle. ^

looking upstream from the second dam. ^

looking downstream from second dam. This is the dam holding all the water and about 7 feet tall. This one is going to require some work to open, but consists mainly of rotten sticks, so may not be too bad once I get started. ^

 

[Rally]

A better look at the bottom side of the second dam, and it’s contents.

This is actually the first dam headed downstream, but I’m not sure it is really holding any water. I tore this out last time I worked in here and can’t tell for sure if the beaver added to it or rebuilt it, because so much is under water. Too deep now to wade and won’t effect my trapping efforts anyway, but may have to deal with it later.

 

[fiver]

that second dam looks to be mostly mud and leaves.
might get lucky and it'll wash itself mostly out once you get it started.

I see your leaves are starting to change.
our scrub oak and some of the others are changing over to their red and orange colors.
the aspen are hanging on but starting to slowly change depending on altitude.

 

[Rally]

Yep, colors are at about 40% now. The early drought stressed a lot of the larger Maple, and they are showing red already. Real poor year for berries, so young bear are showing up in town and at peoples outbuildings, where they store garbage. Decent acorn crop in some areas so the deer and bears will have to get their winter weight there, they usually do anyway, but there will be more competition in the Oaks since the berry crop was so poor. I have four apple trees in my yard(Northern Spee), and I've picked a bushel to take some stress off the limbs from the weight. I water the apple trees, but the apples are still smaller this year, and could use a couple more weeks. We've had frost three nights already, but my trees are up high. I'm just hoping a young bear doesn't get too bold, before I get them picked. The dogs keep the field "marked" pretty well every day, because that is where I run them morning and evening, so that helps with the bears too. Enough acorns in the yard to keep the chipmunks and squirrels out of the apples too. The wife had some berries out drying in the driveway, for her floral arrangements, and the chippies helped her out with those! LOL
The big dam doesn't worry me too much, I have enough water to help when I get it open. The one that worries me is the last one I posted, that I'd torn out last time in there. There is a channel that runs through there on the far side, which I'll have to get dug out, to get the depth to the original creek bed. Problem is, the stuff I have to stand on when digging it out, in short loon poop and rotten sticks, well saturated. If I'm lucky the draft from taking the other two dams out will open it up. It depends how loose it is and what's in it. Dams like that a hoe can't get to, because that is bog on both sides of it. I can call the hoe if I need it, but he won't likely be able to do much good. There are several small trees growing in that big dam, so the taxpayers will be buying me a new chain for my saw all said and done. Sandy wet wood is tough on chains.
Grouse/ small game opened here last Saturday, so there were some folks out hunting, with dogs, so I kinda need to keep an eye on that too. I'll post a sign at the start of this ditch, warning there are traps in the area. Not a worry with most bird dogs being in the water, but when duck opens, there are guys using the beaver dams to hunt ducks, most with a Lab in tow. There was a rig from Il. at one of my rice contracts this morning, with two English Setters, good looking dogs. Caught a beaver there this morning and pulled out of there. I've taken seven beaver out of there this year, whack a pair, tear the dam out, wait a month, another pair move in. We made good rice though.

 

[Rally]

The beavers revenge! They dropped another tree across the trail.
But I got the best of them. Went 6 beaver for 10 traps set. Added two more traps downstream, then went and set five more by the first dam upstream from where I park by the culvert.

 

[fiver]

looks like you might have got the whole family there.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Dang! too bad beaver ain't good to eat! But I love the hides. and tie flies with them

 

[Rally]

Nope. Should be that many more there, and at least a pair upstream. There are two large houses there, and one small house actually built on the trail, upstream.
Waiting on a call from the county highway foreman about the ditch with all the water and dams. It's a county ditch that is behind locked gates, and he is making contact to get the keys. County lets some landowners use the ditches as a water source for livestock, so they fence them and lock them to limit access. Sounded like a 4-wheeler job with good access, and faster than canoeing in and out.

Oscar,
Beaver are wonderful table fare, but these beaver have been in the water for up to two days, and it's still warm. The best eating beaver are under two years of age, and I like to see them alive. My dogs aren't that picky and enjoy them, to include the tails.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Oscar,
Beaver are wonderful table fare, but these beaver have been in the water for up to two days, and it's still warm. The best eating beaver are under two years of age, and I like to see them alive. My dogs aren't that picky and enjoy them, to include the tails.

News to me on beaver! But I am game! I have had bbq 'coon - and must admit, after dredging the grease off, it is really tasty! Also like diver and sea ducks. And think I may have had groundhog, but maybe not (it can be a staple meat in upper E TN). Fried Mtn Oysters are awesome! Bear is good/tad greasy, but I like it. Kangaroo is good/Camel not bad. As you can see, I have been around the meat block! And not picky! Would def be willing to try a beaver that was quick harvested in the dead of winter under ice/cold water and quick! Prob make a great smoked bbq! I want to try a low slow long smoke of a raccoon sometime.

PS: and I forgot fish. smoked mackeral is great! Bluefish/King smoked/bbq'd as well. I intend to try to smoke some carp sometime as well. remove the mud vein and should be as good as smoked whitefish! And alligator/crawfish/smoked eel/calamari. Escargot. Shark. And Conch is THE BOMB!

PSS: and one of THE best jerkys I have EVER had is jack rabbit! Backstraps and loins, marinated for 2-4 days and jerked - is AMAZING! Better than deer imo! I would pay to get JR meat to jerk!

PSSS: yeah, I like what most categorize as strong/gamey/oily meat. But taken care of in the field/prep'd/done right, they are amazing! I def won't go hungry!

 

[Rally]

Ran again today. Ended with seven, six on the ditch again and another little pup where they’ve been giving me so much trouble.

A picture of the upper dam( above) and the three beaver I caught there today, from five traps.

Those three beaver are pretty good representation of size for age class. The one on the left is a three year old female, middle is last years pup, and on the right a two year old male.

Two of the three beaver I caught down stream, which is where I got all six last check. I got six beaver from 10 traps first check, set two more traps. Then got three beaver from twelve traps. Headed in the right direction, and should be able to move some water in a few days.

This is what is left of the third beaver caught downstream. A bear decided he needed a snack! When I rode by it on the way downstream, I just left it figuring to reset a new snare on the way out. When I got back to that location, I saw pieces of the bear to the East of the remains. It was either laying in the brush when I went by, or was coming back to look for more. The intestines were there, all strung out and dry, so I didn’t scare him (assumption on my part guessing sex of bear) off the remains. Bears eat all the beaver normally except the intestines, which contain the undigested wood the beaver are eating. Usually bear, bobcat, and wolves open the gut up and eat the livers first. Usually takes a bobcat several days to eat a whole beaver, and they cover the uneaten portion with whatever loose ground cover present. Bears and wolves usually pick the whole carcass up and move to thicker cover to eat it. This beaver was in a 9’ snare, the bear drug it out of the water, up around an Ash stump, and pulled on it hard enough to bend the snare lock. He’ll probably be hunting my line, so I left him some beaver by where I park so he doesn’t run off with my traps too. They can be a pain sometimes.

 

[Kevin Stenberg]

Concerning the picture of the last beaver dam you showed. Do you only have to open 1 spot on the whole length of the dam. An then let the power of the water wash away whatever gets in its way?

 

[Rally]

Kevin,
If you look at the bottom side of the dam, you will get an idea how wide the original ditch is. What you are looking at above the dam is at least three times the width of the original ditch. The beaver just keep adding to the height and width as it overflows. I only really need to open enough width to get the water flowing, but depth is really more important, it needs to be as deep as the original ditch bottom. I tear off as much as I think it will take to get the true depth of the ditch/ creek. Depending on what is in the dam as to how wide I make that notch. If I open it up too wide, the water just overflows the debris below it and the water only gets so deep. If I dig it to the original depth, or close, with a narrower notch, the water will wash out some depth and some width. Only real trick is to clear out the tailpiece/ bottom of the longer branches and limbs, before getting the water really flowing, because if you leave the longer heavier limbs below the spillway, they catch all the smaller stuff washing through, and forms a filter/ smaller dam below the spillway. It makes quite a difference in how much work/ debris the water will move for me. I've had to leave large dams after only being able to dig out about 4-5' depth, then returned a couple days later, to find the water has washed out an additional 4-5' for me! Gotta love that! If I do my job, and move the clay and grasses that form the front of the dam, the water will do the rest. Also consider, by the time they call me these ditches are holding miles of water in the ditch proper, not to mention what has flooded the adjacent low areas. Soft bottoms and several miles of water will move a bunch of mud/ silt, I just need to give it an unobstructed travel route. Water finds it's own level

 

[Rally]

Ran again today, ended with five beaver, all this years pups. Opened the culvert by the county road, but could only get about half the depth of the culvert. The beaver built the dam about 6’ into the culvert, and I couldn’t pull but about half of it out with the water almost to the top, so I’ll let it drain some and finish it in a couple days. Got one more small pup there today, for a total of four pups, no adults. The way this spot has been going, either the adults there were shot by someone, or have been trapped before and real smart. I’ll know for sure when I go back. If the major hole I opened up in the dam is repaired, there are still beaver there.

Caught three pups upstream on the ditch, which makes six up there.

Only one pup caught downstream, out of twelve traps, but what is most telling for me ,is the drop in water depth at the big dam downstream, where I caught the pup. I dug/ stomped a deeper hole in the dam two days ago to see if it would be repaired, it wasn’t, and no other traps were disturbed. That pup makes ten beaver trapped in the downstream ditch.

This picture is looking from the top of the dam downstream, directly below the spillway where I caught the pup. That grassy looking hump to front left is a sand bar that has formed in the ditch below the dam. If you look at the lower right side of that sand bar, there are two cove shaped pieces missing. The water coming over the spillway I made ,has eroded those areas. That’s a good indicator, that I will be able to wash most of that sand bar out of there with a little creative dam removal. Make the water do the digging!

 

[Rally]

Started this morning going back down to the culvert that has given me so much grief.^ This is the area looking from the county road onto what is left of the water there. I took about half of it out last trip to see if the adult beaver would patch it or if they are even there. It hadn't been repaired at all so I'm pretty sure the adults were shot or maybe killed by a predator. The four pups I caught there were in good physical shape, but awful small for this time of year, and not much bigger than a Muskrat.

This is looking straight down on the culvert and what was remaining at the mouth of the culvert after draining about half. The water was almost to the top of the culvert when I started this job.^

This is what remained in the culvert, you can see where the water line was two days ago on the side of the culvert. This is what I removed today, note the sand in the bottom, which was about half grass.^^

This is about half way done digging the culvert out. I piled a bunch on that pile to the right, but also put most of the sand/ grass to the left, where there was a hole about hip boot deep when I got there, kind of rebuilding the culvert approach.

This is when I got it all cleaned out and running. ^^ Called the highway foreman and he is sending the backhoe to get the piles cleaned up and spread out evenly on the shoulders. There's a few yards of sand there, roughly eight feet out from the culvert that the hoe will move and spread. We'll keep a close eye on this spot to see if the adult beaver make an appearance later.

These are a couple "Rakes" i made to clean culverts like these. Both are ten feet long and made of 1" tubing. The one with a single prong is for cleaning out brush/ mud, and the one I use most often. The one with two sharp prongs is what I hook large logs with, so that I can maneuver them around when they are lodged in a culvert. The points are quite sharp and actually dig into the log for a better grip. I don't have to use that one a lot, but when I do, it is the cats meow, and sure beats crawling in a culvert half full of water, and all full of spiders and skeeters!! I'm guessing a few of you have walked into a face full of spider webs? Should be done here unless an adult shows up.

Caught another pup at the upstream area of the ditch today, which makes seven there.

This is a barren 2.5 year old female I caught downstream in the ditch today. I caught her in a den entrance going under the road, about half way between the two beaver houses. She could be a traveler that came out of the ditch that empties into this ditch, and drains the two lakes I mentioned early on. I'm not sure where she came from, but she should have been bred last winter, and had pups this spring. She either can't have pups or was pushed out of a lodge elsewhere, and was looking to establish somewhere else. She may be a sister to the alpha female and was working as a live in nanny if she is barren. Real unusual for her to be that age and not have had at least one litter by now.

This is the upstream dam that Kevin asked about. Look what floated into the spillway! These are big pieces of floating bog that break away or are cut away from the edges by the beaver. If you look straight over the top of this piece, there is another smaller piece hung up on something near the far bank. These are a real pain to work with, because they are water logged and quite heavy, there's about half as much below the waterline as the grass is tall. Before I tear this dam out I push these to shore, as much as possible, and run a big stick through them and into the bottom, to hold them in place until the water level drops. If I don't anchor them they float into the spillway of the dam and stop the waterflow. If that happens, and there may be others floating around, I have a two man crosscut saw which I use to cut it up into more manageable sized pieces I can throw on shore/ out of the water. I'm guessing that piece of bog weighs somewhere close to 400 lbs as it's pictured here. It's sitting on top of one of my traps now, so I have to move it! I've seen pieces of bog like this floating in lakes that were 30' across, how would you like to cut those up?

 

[fiver]

you'll be back to that culvert.
it's too easy.