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Other Activities => Trapping => Topic started by: big wood on February 12, 2013, 07:15:44 PM


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Title: beav
Post by: big wood on February 12, 2013, 07:15:44 PM
the 32# beaver I caught tonight had some huge gashes on its back and neck. I can only figure it got whooped on by a dominent male. does anyone think the same or know something different??
Title: Re: beav
Post by: one more on February 12, 2013, 09:32:56 PM
Some beaver seem to do more fighting than others.  Most older beaver, males and females, have a lot of scars that heal up quite well.  Usually you can't see the old scars on the fur side unless the wounds had been infected and the fur grows back scraggly.  Also when the beaver fight each other there will be at least a couple places where you can see upper teeth cuts.   

My friend in Galena believed that otters would sometimes attack beaver.  According to books cougars and bears attack beavers.   Beaver meat does make the best bait for almost everything.
Diane
Title: Re: beav
Post by: nwwanderer on February 12, 2013, 09:36:51 PM
Check out the trail cam predators on the beaver dam.  Looks like everything likes them.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: Humptulips on February 12, 2013, 11:51:18 PM
Too high a poulation of beaver and they fight. Later in the year towards spring you get more damaged beaver too.

I think if a cougar or bear grabs one you won't see any scars. They're toast.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: big wood on February 13, 2013, 05:50:53 AM
bruce, do you think I should stop for the year. I was going to stop march 1st and finish the year on land
Title: Re: beav
Post by: big wood on February 13, 2013, 12:24:47 PM
Here is a pic under the jaw. Also 4 or 5 bites on back
Title: Re: beav
Post by: Humptulips on February 13, 2013, 07:10:44 PM
bruce, do you think I should stop for the year. I was going to stop march 1st and finish the year on land

If you have the beaver I wouldn't. It could be still a small percentage chewed up. If you get a few in a row that are all chewed up then I would reconsider trapping them.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: big wood on February 13, 2013, 08:14:59 PM
I think there are quite a few in there. I see new sign almost every day.and I caught 1 26# and the rest have been 30# to 45#. not one kit. all with one set.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: scotty1969 on February 14, 2013, 10:39:12 AM
i wonder if it got into the fight while it was in the trap.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: big wood on February 14, 2013, 08:03:02 PM
wound seemed a couple days old. and starting to stink a little
Title: Re: beav
Post by: Humptulips on February 14, 2013, 10:42:00 PM
I don't know how  a beaver could do much damage to each other through a cage.
Before cage traps I have caught a few that got into a fight when in a trap. Not typical to have a live beaver in a trap but sometimes the unexpected happens. When a beaver is in a trap and a fight ensues it is always killed and it will have many bites. Had some with well over a hundred bites.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: pnwmtnmn on February 15, 2013, 03:14:41 PM
Have had one beaver that didn't go down the slide wire and it looked like a rawhide net.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: castor gitter on February 20, 2013, 08:17:19 PM
 :yeah: yes hundreds of bites like Bruce said when you could used other traps. Once I had one in a shallow water set caught in a conibear, well others didn't like it in the channel and worked over the hide. My thought is if you catch several like that in the same spot, keep trapping! Need to thin the population.

Here's a thought from a Canadian friend and how he runs his line. They trap out whole colonies, then leave one alone and go back and forth like that. Idea is that the juveniles when dispersing will have a place to go closer and less fighting/scaring happens. This of course in a densely populated area. And rotate which colonies get trapped each year to get healthier colonies in general. Also if you take all the older beaver you leave no breeders, kits might not make it on their own so why let em die like that. Then if you only take one adult you can run the risk of it being very territorial and not letting a new one in to breed. Or they do inbreed- studies shown that a black beaver is inbred usually. This is all his saying but I tend to agree. Areas are different but we all manage/farm our lines accordingly.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: big wood on February 24, 2013, 09:10:08 AM
sounds like good advice castor. But I pulled them and figured that I would leave the seed for next year.
Title: Re: beav
Post by: castor gitter on February 24, 2013, 07:33:26 PM
All depends on your area, no one can make the call but you. Usually your gut feeling is good to follow ;). Especially on a good river you can trap alot!!! Without hurting the population. Years of trapping the same area gives you the best way to judge. Time on the line:). Happy trapping
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