We've been having a severe drought here in NC and it's made the beavering a bit intersting. They tend to act a bit different when they're living in shallow water.

This site was one I worked back in July. I took a pile of beavers out of it and tore a hole in the top of this dam to see if there were any more beavers left. It was never patched, so that indicated I had most probably caught them all.

The land owners were going to bring in a track-hoe and remove the dams, but they hadn't made it yet.

Here's the dam as it looks now. Note the hole in the dam from this summer. It appears the new batch of beavers moved in sometime after the water had fallen, because there's no attempt to patch the hole. This dam is now about four feet out of the water. The water in front of the dam is about ten inches deep. It use to be about five feet deep.



Here is the bank den the beavers are living in. It's got fresh mud and sticks on top of it and a nice trail where they've been carrying the mud and sticks for the top of the den....



I set this place up on Wednesday. I found this nice choke place to narrow down. The water is only about six to eight feet across at this point and about ten inches deep. I love these kinds of places to put body grip traps. Especially when otter season is in because this is a killer set for otters as well as beavers. (With the heat we've had this week, I feared it would be a killer turtle set - lol)....



So, I got a dive pole and some blocking sticks and went to work funneling this point down for my body-grip set. This is what I ended up with...



Here's a closer view. You can see one of the spring eyes above water. The trap is below where the sticks make an "X"....




Well, yesterday I caught nothing. I also had a snare set in another blocked off part of the stream and it was just like I set it. Absolutely nothing moved Wed night.

I'm figuring because I walked right past the den, the beavers got spooked. I think when the water is low and there's no place for them to dive to safety, they may act a bit more cautiously. When the water is low, I'll bet the bears, bobcats and coyotes can prey on them pretty easily, if caught away from the den.

Anyway, I went back today and the snare still was setting as I had set it, but I had this action at the body grip....



Since the body grip is fully submerged, I have a 72 hour check on it and I left it set over the weekend. Hope to have its mate, if there is one, on Monday.

I had another shallow water place with the same type of deal.... I'll make another post on it, since dial up'ers may be all night downloading images.

Very cool post Paul, I've never heard of them having there den acutally out of the water.

The entrance to the den is under the water. They come on top of the den to pile up insulating material - mud and sticks. It forms a den/lodge.

Im finding larger groups in what holes of water is left. What you have is a mudhole deal, lol. Makes ya wonder how many beaver have bit the dust this past summer don't it?

Shallow water or clear streams always seem to have the spookiest type's of beaver I run into.

awesome pics. looks like a nice beav too. whad-he weigh?

Paul,

Thanks for the post.

I am trapping the same spot as the past two years. Always caught beaver right away. Not this year.

Water is actually 18-20" above where it usually is, and they have made a new den right next to their dam.

I will have to move in big time tomorrow to see what in the heck is going on. Hopefully, I will have some pictures to post.

with there not being much water and it don't look like a very big area, how long will you leave the body grip trap in the same place? i am sure the remaining live beaver will see the dead ones that tried to get under the log and avoid the area? if the water was 3 feet higher would you have tried the same type of set with the bodygrip?

If there's no beaver in the body grip on Monday, I'll reset the snare that's near this set and perhaps put in another snare.

If the water were 3' higher, I'd have made the same sets I caught the previous colony of beavers in. I had a dam break set with a CDR and three snare sets in channels leading into the stream.

(With the heat we've had this week, I feared it would be a killer turtle set - lol)....

I here ya Paul, I was seeing turtles as I drove around today. Mid December at that!!!!!