Beavers

[Matt]

I haven't seen a beaver in the wild until today. Surprisingly an adult, at Letchworth, on the bank of the Genesee between the upper and middle falls. Quite a task to dam that section of the river.

[cbobcat49]

really? never?

They are all over the place down at Allegany. There's probably about 5 or 6 easily accessable active beaver ponds in the park, and probably more in the "back country". They're really fun to watch when they're dragging branches around in the water for repairs to their dam. You can see them every now and then at Letchworth too. I once saw one swimming around in the plunge pool at the base of upper falls. I was wondering... did it go over!?!? Another time, a few years ago on our rafting trip, there was one walking along a narrow ledge of rock about 10 above water level. We floated by and when it saw us, it freaked out, had nowhere to go, so it tried to run down the rock face to the water but instead slid, then tumbled and rolled... and maybe even bounced a few times... into the water. Hilarious.

Chris

[Brenda]

They are amazing creatures. There are some living in the wetlands adjacent to our property. I had no problem with them until they moved downstream and started a dam on the creek on our property. The bank was already undercut there, beneath a huge white pine that made for a beautiful place to just sit and enjoy the creek and the solitude. Well, I decided to put on the waders and tear out the dam. I returned a few days later only to find the dam built bigger and better. I tore the dam out again, and once again they just rebuilt it bigger and better. I felt like I was Bugs Bunny in that Looney Toons cartoon, Wet Hare, where he's battling the evil lumberjack Blacque Jacque Shellacque. Unlike Bugs, I gave up, the dam was built and the tree fell. Dam beaver!

They can do serious "dam"age to trout habitat, by slowing streams which allows silt to build up on the bottom where the fish would normally spawn in the gravel. They can also wipe out stands of aspen which are prime Woodcock habitat. The decline in demand for their pelts, has resulted in a significant increase in their numbers.

[Matt]

yep, they are almost as destructive to stream environments as humans.

though this is my first beaver encounter, I have read a lot about them in college.

They create wetlands with their activities and a lot of wetlands in the state can be traced to Beavers. Sometime abandoned dams will break and the stream will come back to its natural flow, in even greater health. Other times the dam will collect so much silt, it becomes part of the landscape and help permanently define the created wetland, which is great for the species that tend to take over.

Removing dams is not the way to go as a beaver will always rebuild.

the best measure is to spray a repellant at the bases of trees surrounding the area you'd like to protect. Not sure if repellant would work on the dam itself, as its just a foul tasting substance. I believe it is called Ropel. Fencing the trunks of trees will work well too.

I have a theory that placing an artificial Wolf, Bear or Coyote on or around the dam would force them to move on.

[Brenda]

I knew they'd just rebuild, but at least I made them work at it! I think it was more a way to vent my anger at them, since I can't bring myself to kill anything (well, almost anything).

I like the repellant idea. I'd never heard of a beaver repellant (don't even start boys), but you can buy one for deer, etc., so it makes sense.

[Brenda]

It should be noted, all joking aside, that it is also illegal to take it upon yourself to destroy a beaver dam, or to remove beaver in any manner (outside of the legal trapping season), without express permission from the DEC. I couldn't bear the thought of them being trapped, so I chose to let them be, but my property damage was minimal. If someone is truly having problems with beaver damage on their property, the link below will outline the procedure for dealing with nuisance beaver.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/6992.html

[Matt]

I read an interesting method of deterance on the internet yesterday. One man claims that peeing on the dam for a few days would make them abandon it.

Kind of makes me want to set up a anti-beaver business. start-up costs would be minimal.

[Brenda]

It would make me abandon it! I wish I'd known of this technique when my dam was still under construction. I'm sure that my husband would have been a willing volunteer.