Natural Beaver Predators

[royalhntr]

Quite the conundrum here. Do we save salmon or beavers? We may to need release their natural predators into the park. Cougar or wolves? Or grizzlies? Where are the trappers at on this?
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/beaver-family-that-moved-into-seattles-carkeek-park-may-complicate-salmon-spawning-journey/

[Trapper John]

You know what's funny about that area, those beaver have been there a long time.
And if my memory  is correct, it tells me that I trapped that same area for beaver years ago when I had my ADC Business.
Those beaver are coming up out of Lake Washington and there is a pile and a half of them in lake Washington.
Saying that, I think they should leave those beaver alone (because you will never trap all the beaver out of the lake) the salmon will do just fine.
JC   

[ducks4days]

I was known as the beaver slayer in my younger years, but due to that pesky marriage I signed onto I will need to sit this one out.

[npaull]

The idea that beaver stop salmon is laughable. Every friggin salmon stream in the world has or has had beaver in it. Every. Single. One. It's a non-issue.

[Trapper John]

The idea that beaver stop salmon is laughable. Every friggin salmon stream in the world has or has had beaver in it. Every. Single. One. It's a non-issue.

 

[JakeLand]

The idea that beaver stop salmon is laughable. Every friggin salmon stream in the world has or has had beaver in it. Every. Single. One. It's a non-issue.

very true but the state will spend a $100,000 on devices that will fail !!

[Mt.Beaver]

As a kid ( long time ago) I walked the railroad tracks along there, trapped Mt. Beavers in the hillside, caught garter snakes, and shot my .22 rifle along that stretch of track.  The beavers have spread along also from Ft Lawton,to Golden Gardens and now Carkeek.  Good old days are gone. Probably wouldn't walk the tracks with my .22rifle these days.  Grandson had a field trip from school the other day to the hatchery there. His school will be hatching some eggs and releasing the fry back in Pipers Creek. They could always trap the fish below the dam and bring the eggs and mlt up to the hatchery and take care of it.

[timberfaller]

  Gotta love the city dwellers!

Had a annual war on these pest!!  Kept myself in lots of gun money! $50 a pop.   They migrated in every fall, became a real pain in the back side!!

[pianoman9701]

I was known as the beaver slayer in my younger years, but due to that pesky marriage I signed onto I will need to sit this one out.

 

[Cougartail]

Years ago Alaskas whitefish numbers plummeted. They are migratory fish and the beaver dams were found to be the issue. Pool depth infront of dams determines the height salmon can jump. Whitefish are effected also as they have jump effectiveness due to water depth.

Trapping beavers and large predators do influence spawning. Larger and more established dams are more durable and harder to jump. Ridding the maintenence team helps spring washouts.

Human activities often benefit some wildlife regardless of what the "all natural crowd" thinks.

Even as poor a beaver trapper I was, I still can kill more beavers than any other predator.

[Loup Loup]

I just saw this. All in all a very good article.
Several times, in my career, I was tasked with trapping out beavers whose dam blocked the upstream
Movement of adult salmon/steelhead. Spring Chinook, Coho, and Steelhead. In the smaller tributaries, the fish need a deep “jump pool” to get momentum to jump and clear the dam. If there’s no jump pool, or the downstream side of the dam is brushy, those fish are blocked.
Another thing guys. This article explains a number of reason why beaver need to be harvested/managed. This type of information is important to get out to people. Especially with this anti beaver trapping movement that’s going on now.
Come on guys. Take a breath and look at the big picture before you poo-poo an arrow in our quiver.

[lewy]

I've personally witnessed on several occasions salmon failing to get over a dam, absolutely impassable.

[Cylvertip]

I've personally witnessed on several occasions salmon failing to get over a dam, absolutely impassable.

Same here.  Until you get a BIG rain event, those fish are stuck. The otter and coons love it though. 

  Just like the previous post stated that " every salmon stream has beaver to deal with" , every one of those streams are populated by salmon that decended from transient ancestors.   Hell , there were no salmon in the Puget Sound area 10-15k years ago.  There was probably a good amount of time they weren't in much of the Columbia system either.  Their populations have ebbed and flowed through out time.  It will continue to be that way. 

[JimmyHoffa]

I've personally witnessed on several occasions salmon failing to get over a dam, absolutely impassable.

Same. The water on the outlet was so shallow that the fish couldn't jump even if they wanted. Lots of bobcat and cougar tracks. At one dam, not fun to walk through due to all the sharp alder stakes all about a foot tall sticking up everywhere.

[Humptulips]

I won't speak to areas except the coast, but I have never seen a beaver dam, salmon could not get over and I have seen some pretty big ones. The trick is they can get over on a high water when there is a torrent flowing over the dam. They don't even have to jump. They just swim up the ultra-swift water.
Same thing with all these culvert replacements they are doing. Been a bunch done on 101 and I have seen salmon above every one of the culverts with the exception of the culverts they're replacing that have no water in them most of the time.

[JakeLand]

I’m actually starting some jobs for some hatcheries up by here that the beavers have dammed up so bad that they’re hiring me to come get rid of them , it’s not actually so salmon can come up but actually so the smolt can get down into the main river as they’re getting ready in 4ish weeks to release line 100,000 fingerlings and there is no way they can get out with those dams unless there is a major water rise

[Trapper John]

Charge um to remove the dams too. Cha Ching,  Cha Ching,  Cha Ching, 
  JC 

[Cylvertip]

I have seen a few 36" culverts completletly blocked where no salmon would be able to get through.  At least not until the water were to over top and/or blow out the road.