How to Get Rid of Beavers : Creek, Pond, Lake & Yard Beaver Removal

Beaver

Beavers are classified as a pest species and the biggest problem people run into with them is their ability to flood areas with the building of their dams. They also destroy trees and creeks with their home-building skills. Many people try to trap beavers with either a live trap or by using beaver traps that are lethal.

How do you get rid of beavers in a river, lake, or pond

Removing beavers from your area can be quite challenging. They often choose to build their homes in areas tough to reach by humans. They are very comfortable in the water and yet move through debris quite easily. They often cause a lot of destruction when they decide to make their home in your pond, river or lake.

The beaver dam will stop the natural flow of water and cause extensive flooding in ponds and rivers. The change in water will kill vegetation and they destroy trees by taking them down to create their dams. Repellents don’t work well with the beaver since they are mostly in the water, trapping them and moving them to a more suitable area is the best method.

Complete Tutorial to Trapping Beavers

Click here to get a professional removing beaver for you.

How to get a beaver out of its dam

The beaver uses its dam as both a place to hunt and as its home. These are what prevent water from flowing naturally and cause the area to flood. There dams are so large and full of so much debris that it is capable of plugging natural waterways. The debris they use to create the dam will also make it quite difficult for you to get onto it.

The best method for you would be to place several traps somewhere in the general area close to the dam. If you are interested in purchasing some beaver traps try looking here. Fresh fruit, peanut butter, and jelly are good incentives for the beaver to come looking for your traps or you can also try this pre-made beaver bait which works pretty good!

The beaver is a fairly intelligent animal, so when setting a trap for one you need to camouflage it. Use vegetation to cover up the trap so the beaver does not see it. If a beaver senses a trap in the area and especially if they see or hear one go off, they will stay away from that area entirely.

You should use more than one trap and place them in different areas around the water; chances are pretty good that if you have one beaver there are more you haven’t seen yet. They also reproduce quite quickly so you want to be sure and remove all of them. Traps can be found at most home and gardening stores and you will need to get one big enough to hold the size of the beaver.

First part of beaver removal is proper beaver Identification. This is the beavers most distinguishing feature, their flat tail.

Beavers are elusive mammals that are not easy to get rid of. However, if you learn their behavior, and identify what is attracting them to your property, you can find ways to remove them. – Photo by Dan / CC by

How to get the beaver out of your woods

Beavers are best known for making their dams in some form of water, but there have been cases where they will make one in the woods close to the water. Trapping will work better for you if you are able to locate the entrance and place a trap near it. Again, remember to camouflage the trap so they are not able to detect it. The only repellent that has been successful in the battle against beavers is to mix some latex paint with fine sand and place it around the base of trees. The beaver will not like this mixture and will be forced to find other trees for their dam building. If they are not able to find trees near where they want their dam, they will move on.

How to get the beaver out of your yard

In general the beavers do not choose yards to set up home. They see humans as predators and try to stay away from them. If one should choose your yard you can apply the latex paint and sand around your trees; they will not stay where there are no trees for their home building. If you do not like how the paint looks, fencing will also keep the beaver away from your trees. Beavers are good diggers so it is suggested to use underground fence made of metal to prevent the beaver from digging through to the tree.

Pond and lake beaver removal is difficult. You can see a beaver here taking shelter in the water.

Beavers are not easy to remove from a pond or lake because they can utilize the water as shelter – Photo by Larry Smith / CC by

“Foolproof Way” of getting rid of beavers

Nuisance animal expert, Harold Bailey known for his practical ideas of eliminating pest animals says he has created the, “fool proof” method to get rid of your beaver troubles. Many of Bailey ideas appeared in past issues of FARM SHOW. Before his death, Harold Bailey would solve pest animal issues for people who lived within 100 miles of his home. To get rid of beavers he came up with an idea that is cheap, easy to do and will work every time.

Bailey’s idea

  1. Take two 30 inch long pieces of 4 inch wide plastic pipe and join them together at a 90 degree elbow, forming an “L”.
  2. Drill a series of small holes down the length of both pipe pieces.
  3. Dig down into the beaver’s dam from the top; placing the “L” shape of connected pipes at the bottom of their dam.
  4. The straight section of the pipe should be up in the air.
  5. Block the open end of the lower section of the pipe with sticks and then cover it.
  6. Make sure the pipe is secure.
  7. Water will begin to leak out of the dam through the pipe and the beaver will not know how to stop it. This will cause the beaver to leave the dam and take up residence somewhere else.

Other pipe solutions for beaver control

The Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler was is setup to control flooding issues and to maintain the benefits of beavers in a community. This device was intended to get along with beavers and to get some benefits from them being in your area.

The Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler will minimize dam construction by the beaver. The beaver will detect the water loss, but will be unable to know what is causing it or stop it. The leveler is going to control flooding and pond levels, keep culverts from plugging and most of all confuse the beaver so it changes living area.

CulverClear is a flow device designed to prevent culvert damming. These flow devices have been tested in beaver problem areas and have a 98% success rate of this system effectively protecting culverts from getting blocked by beaver constructions.

At one point in history the beaver was almost extinct due to heavy trapping for their fur. Today the beaver has made a strong comeback and has an estimated population around 12 million. While their return does provide benefits to some environments, they are not welcome in all areas. If you have a problem with beavers we hope one of these methods helps you to remove them from your neighborhood.

How to Get Rid of Beaver Dams

Beaver dam removal can be executed either manually or with the aid of machinery or explosives.

Manual Beaver Dam Removal

One Man Versus a Huge Beaver Dam

Mechanical Beaver Dam Removal – Digging Out Beaver Dams with Tractors and Back Hoes

Published
Categorized as Beavers

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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