Yup we have them here too. That big body’s makes a good wrecking ball for the windshield when you take the legs out. A schoolmates sister was killed that way.
We had Beavers take up residence at our pond a few years ago. The good news was they ate mostly sweet gum trees and killed many of them. Bad news was we had to deal with winching them up the bank and disposing of them. We ended up trapping both of them and believe it or not beaver meat is very good eating (enter jokes here….) and tastes much like beef as it’s a dark red color. Need to look in the freezer as the pelts are probably still there wrapped up. Was going to tan them but just forgot until now.
Last winter I was helping clear cut some state wildlife ground along a river. One section had been hit hard by beavers years ago and there was pointy stumps all over. It had been long enough that the cottonwood stumps were rotted and you could pretty much kick them out of the ground. One cottonwood that I needed to drop was about 24” at the stump and had been attacked by the beavers at some point in the past, leaving a large face cut type of notch, but was still alive and apparently a healthy tree. It was kinda difficult to figure out how I wanted to go about it. It branched into two stems about 5-6 above the ground, the main trunk had a pretty good lean to the east, but after the fork, the two stems made a sweeping arc back over the center of the main trunk to the west. But, all the heavy branches went to the east and south. After probably 20 minutes of study and walking around it until I was dizzy I concluded that the beavers probably had it figured about right ( but chickened out)! I put my notch right on top of theirs and fell the tree right on the target stick I’d placed on the ground. That got me to thinking and wondering if and how much time a beaver puts into planning the fall of a bigger tree.
We get a moose here every now and then, but mainly we don't have moose. But I did see one on Christmas day 2015. It was just standing there, and I got within about 125 yards. I made a video about it, but lost it when that phone died. It was huge, and here in South Dakota we Don't have a moose season that I know of.
I started this thread from a picture I took about 2 mile east of my small town. We don't have many beavers up here to speak of ( South Dakota), but I know the are destructive. Just wanted to see what everyone thought about them. Others may have more info or stories.
A number of years ago some beavers built their dam in a culvert going under a county road. It didn't last long in there.
According to the fruit that we have for a local DNR officer, in Iowa you have to get DNR approval to remove a beaver dam or you are subject to fines & stuffs. Moral of the story is don’t tell anyone & you are less likely to get caught…
We had a discussion with a game warden about a bad beaver dam about 6 feet higher than a road surface. He said if you see one shoot it and don’t tell me what you did. Trapping has been unsuccessful in there and there’s not many people still trapping in the area cause pelts aren’t worth the time anymore.
You would never hear our DNR say that, she said & I quote “ the lives of deer are just as important as the lives of people.” this after being questioned about the overpopulated deer & lack of extra licenses issued.
We have some major beaver issues here. The wardens know it and don’t want to have to deal with it constantly. There are less and less nuisance trappers and they, by law, can only trap and relocate to be someone else’s problems. 20 years ago an old dam let go and did millions in damage when it wiped out miles of road. Best resolve is to eliminate the problem and keep quiet as they said.
Would be interesting to hear her views if she ever put one thru the windshield of her DNR vehicle !!!!!!!
