Fuzzy face ive never trapped anywhere for beaver except down here so just figured that was normal.

Mnbvrtrapper,
When I read your post about the beaver, I knew before I finnish the post that the beaver were black in color. It is quite common here,and bog country, to find houses with little or no wood in them. They are most always black beaver(black all the way around, no brown bellies)and rarely over 60" in size. I'm guessing the brown beaver you caught in that colony was either the adult female or male and most likely the female. The black gene from my experience seems to be dominant in the male. Like I posted in my above post it is also quite common here to have huge rafts of cattails tubers, big enough to support a large beavers weight in the centers.These ponds also are real suckers for fresh popple poles about mid January.
Carl,
I'm not sure about the bite marks on the cypress knees, as I learn something from every colony I trap, I have to because they are getting smarter!!
Call me crazy but here is my take on some of the trees that have just been chewed a couple times.I have noticed what I am about to describe most often in the month of Sept. and early Oct.
I believe that the adult male beaver marks trees he wants cut, like a work assignment if you will. I quite often see where an establish colony, to mean an adult pair, three to five two year olds, and three to six yearlings. Not a new colony with a pair of 2.5 year old beaver. I believe a young pair works and builds evenly in labor until the female has pups then the work is done primarily by the male and pups in either age class. It has been my experience that the adult female in a colony has the darkest, (least used)teeth, to me meaning she is cutting less wood.
I have noticed here that there tends to be alot of areas where the young popple have been chewed or marked with just a couple bite marks, usually in bunches or 5-10 trees, close to each other.I started looking at these chop(bite)marks and noticed they tended to all be made by a large set of teeth, or an adult beaver.Since I was going into the ponds every day I was able to keep track of them. They were cut in bunches and the teeth cutting them were smaller, and like the marked trees, seemed to be cut in bunches, like they were marked. The first time I observed this I thought it was pretty neat but didn't really think about it much. The following year I got a contract to remove beaver from a ditch line that was four miles long and had a two track running adjacent to it, but the beaver had the two track flooded. There was too much brush to canoe it so I was walking it.They wanted to drain this area to access a large track of land to the south. This ditch and the area where I came into it had already been logged about 6 years before and was regrowth popple(beaver candy).On the way into where I was trapping there were two colonies of beaver about 2 miles from the ones I was contracted to trap.As I was driving in to my contract I noticed a bunch of areas with the popple cut like mentioned above, with just a couple bites removed and again in bunches, and again in Sept.(mid).Every day I watched the progress of these trees and the way they cut them, both colonies had bunches of trees marked and all were cut in bunches again. These were about 12 years ago, and I have notice this in several colonies many miles apart. Other than those trees being cut in bunches the trees seemed to be about the same age class all around them. They weren't the closest to the house, and some weren't the easiest to access. Why these colonies chose to cut in these areas and leave the same type feed source both closer to the house and easier to get is a mystery to me. I've also observed where beaver will drop trees into the water and cut others that fall into the water before they start cutting the first ones up. It also seems they cut up the trees down stream first if there is any current. I'm guessing the felled tree upstream may divert some current and aid in the cutting of the trees down stream. Who knows for sure but it keeps things interesting.

How many of you believe a beaver has to eat wood to keep their teeth trimmed?

I imagine they can grind them down theirself in their sleep if they grind teeth like I do when im asleep, lol.

Had one the other day that was odd though, had white teeth! Ever see that?

That is extremely interesting Rally. I have often wonderd if they didnt pass up trees of the same species because of a nutrient quantity in the cambium layer. Most trees at different stages of growth will produce different properties within the cambium which is the thin layer within the bark that beaver actually eat and digest. I have also witnessed trees marked then dropped by younger of the colony but never touched agin after being dropped. That still puzzles me. Any thought on that one Rally?

Probably the same reason they chew 4x4 post into on boat docks Dave, lol. Nothing better to do, lol.

It was my thoughts that all rodents has to chew on something to keep it's teeth worn down.

I believe it is pure rumor that beaver have to chew wood to keep their teeth in check. I've got a movie, taken while a camera was installed in a beaver lodge for like a year,and it shows beaver grinding their teeth in their sleep. It was explained that the inner core of the teeth grows constanly and they simply grind them as they sleep, and why they are always sharp unless broken.It actually shows beaver grinding their teeth while sleeping, grooming habits, youg pups learning to swim in the house etc.Really good footage of beaver foot placement while swimming , landing, eating and grooming. Shows them shredding small peeled sticks for bedding in the house also.
The movie also shows some footage of beaver pond visitors swimming. You should see the way a Porky swims, looks like he is riding a bike.LOL
I was surprised at all the noises a beaver makes also. Squeeks, grunts, chattering,yawning etc.
Dave,
I wondered the same thing about the nutrients, but I have noticed they just take the trees out in clusters. The regrowth is just inches apart, and most cutting areas if viewed from above seem to be shaped like a culdasec(SP) or lollipop. Smaller at the waterline and expanding in the woods.It's fairly flat here, and the banks are normally gently sloping areas. I'm kinda thinking it may have something to do with the way they drop them or drag them out.If they make a small clearing as they cut away from the water they can fell the small trees, with the tops away from the water, making the buts toward the water. It would be easier to drag them out that way. Ever notice how they leave a larger tree that hangs up when falling(deadman)? Do you think they know it could fall on them and kill them? So they just leave it until the wind blows it down, or on a larger tree they just want the tops and can't reach it so leave it. Could also be that they keep the "clearings they cut small so they have less worry from soaring raptors being able to just drop in on them. The smaller clearings would be tougher for a raptor to manuever in giving them more opportunity to get back to the water. How many times you ever seen more than one beaver back up in the woods cutting trees. I don't think I ever have. Most often it is one cutting and one near the water edge.
Ever notice how much more muscular a river beaver is than a pond beaver? I'm betting it is from swimming against the current at least 50% of the time.LOL

Rally
The strange part about the Cypress trees and knee's is that i dont think that i have ever seen one cut completely down by a beaver.I also wonderd if it was the same beaver or a differnt beaver that would come back and mark/bite the tree . That is very intereting about the black beavers lodge with no sticks.Over the years i've probably caught 8-10 of them around heare, as best as i can remember,lol they all lived in bank dens.One thing i did notice with all that were caught is that there under fur was pilled.Just full of little balls of fur, wadded up, a real pain to try and comb out.
I have seen many times were a beaver has walked in threw a patch of willows, maybe as far as 12-15ft to cut down a sapling the same size as the one;s it just walked by. Go figuire...
Without a dought beaver in rivers are more muscular ,to me they are even built differnt, they are streamlined , they take on the shape of a pointed bullet,( i call them torpedo beaver) ocasionally i will catch one of those big sloppy fat beaver out of a river, but not often, it usually happens if i get on a section of river that hasn't been trapped for awhile. Many of the beaver that i catch out of strip mine ponds will be more muscular, they dont have the lose floppy skin.I always figuerd it was there diet, mostly rocks, LOL........Carl

I've noticed many times beaver only taking a bite or two out of a tree and moving on. I always thought they were just "tasting". As far as noises, I've noticed beaver being very vocal. Lot's of whines, grunts, squeaks, etc. The noisiest beaver I ever saw was at a place where someone had just blown the dam and it's pond was going down fast. The first thing I saw it do was refresh all it's castor mounds, which I thought was kind of strange, because some of them were a ways from water with the rapidly receding water. The beaver never shut up, and at times was quite loud.

Carl,
Are those bite marks visible from the water, so that they could be seen by a beaver swimming by?I think I've carried a couple of those beaver eating rocks! Seems they were always a couple miles from the truck and they got bigger the farther I got from the truck!! Must be tough on an old guy like you.LOL
Goldy,
I've seen the trees chewed a couple times and not later cut. Could be alot of reasons they didn't cut them. I'm guessing they didn't feel safe, like a blid spot they couldn't see very far, maybe too dry, maybe Bomagillian(SP),maybe spooked by a predator,or maybe taste poorly to them. Wouldn't be any fun if we had all the answers.

Rally
Yep any beaver could see the bite marks when swimming by, heck Ray Charles could of seen em.
Just because you aint got any grey hair yet dont mean your not a Dina sour . LOL..Keep your boots up and your head down..Carl

Keep your boots up and your head down


Good Advice, Drip Dry,LOL.

Dang Carl, now you have me thinking. And your telling on yourself, saying I don't have any Grey hair. They say ones eye sight is the second thing to go!!!!

As for goofy things ive seen beaver do, had one going out of a swamp walking up hill a good 100 yards to cut down seedling pines once!

Another spot they were climbing a steep rocky cliff to mow down the shrubbery around a million dollar house when there was plenty of vegetation around the lake they were living in, it was summer time!

Flooded willows are always the same deal Carl, they go right by a hundred to cut the one near the bank. No idea why they do that.

One thing you can count on in the south though is they will ALWAYS build their main dam in the biggest brier/honeysuckle vine thicket they can find! Just fought my way into one of those this evening, look like ive been on a prom date with Freddie Krueger now, lol

I noticed that in MS. J. Always felt like a pin cushion after fighting my way in.lol I suppose they build dams in those types of locations because they feel more secure and protected by the cover. I know on the river I trap they will not sit and eat outside of the lodge without some sort of overhead protection. At sometime in history there must have been a raptor big enough to carry those hogs off and they aint forgot it yet! lol

Great information on this post! Rally, J trap, Paul and all other who have contributed!

On first ice out, we hit rivers here in SE Nebr fairly hard.

Just as soon as ice is out, a bait stick next to any beaver activity works like a charm.

Seem like you get the 2 year old most on a bait stick.

After about 7-10 days of open water, bait sticks loose their effectiveness and castor based lures shine. Its like they all got their belly full of fresh feed, and a bait stick doesnt trip their trigger as much, still works, but not to the extreme as on ice out.

Now here is something interesting. around here, hackberry is a beaver magnet come ice out. It will outproduce ANY wood Ive tryed. Most of our lowlying wood that is normal beaver feed is small banks of maple or cottonwood. Give them a piece of hackberry and they will just zoom right in on it, no matter if theyve got a willow, maple,cottonwood bank full right behind it. They will come in to hackberry like its the last piece of food they will ever eat. It works so good, that I will cut and use hackberry, if I can find enough, at every set no matter what Ive got handy close by. its worth it to cut in advance and pack it in.

Wonder if other locations across country have seen this??

I dont even bother cutting away the bark most of time, it just works that good after ice out.

Around here, you never see the amount of bait sticks that are knawed off like you do hackberry.

Many times, youve got one beaver dead at end of drowner or rod, and another has came by and choppedf off the bait stick.

Shoot, just reminds me. I need to get my chainsaw running before I can go beaver trapping!.

Truely, I'd rather go w/o lure, than hackberry, the first week of ice out.

R

Your onto something here Rich. There must be something about Hackberry not just the bark but the fruit as well. Beavs will go out of there way here in the spring for Hackberry. No other time but spring. The coon will also go WAY out of their way for hackberries throughout the winter. there has to be a reason for it but I sure dont know what it is.

Our popple has the same effect Rich, especially it seems if it's greenish colored, and smooth. I've seen beaver go to a castor mound with popple, with no trap there at the time, and grab the popple off the mound without even stopping to sniff the lure/castor. I think bait really helps, especially on 1/2 submerged 330's, to get them to commit. I'm not even sure what hackberry looks like, I think we have it here though. I'll have to look into it and try it for fun.

Dave,
If you would put a scope on that rifle you wouldn't have to do so much shooting and spook them beaver into the lodge.LOL