My wife and I saw two of these little bastards building a den last weekend
Bottom line ... Beavers aren't cartoon characters. If you come across one, dont expect to get close up shots for YouTube ... especially with kids around.
Guess its time for more Beaver trapping in Belorous. Damn Beavers killing an old man who only wanted to take a video of a beaver. Tragic, Get your mind out of GUTTER you know know who I am talking about. Viagra does not help everyone old man. And not this Beaver.
Had a couple in our stream when I first moved in, but within a week after, some unknown local trapped it out, and sold the pelts I would imagine. We only saw one once, when we were looking over the property to buy it. The dam is about a quarter mile from the house. Now their 50 yard long dam is almost all gone, the stream flows right through the pond.
In a way, I wish he was still there, sorta makes it natural. Wouldn't want a bunch, or a family though. I would imagine they take quite a few trees. The evidence of that was apparent, I wouldn't like that.
I got very close to one once. Years back my neighbour - a truly destestable human being who was causing me no end of grief - had beavers blocking the culvert that drained his man-made lake, and caused it to overflow. So he had traps set up, the kind that looks like a big square steel spring - which I set off with a long steel wrecking bar every chance I had. One day while making my rounds and pulling the traps out of the water and setting them off, I pulled one out that had snagged a beaver by the foot.
What to do, what to do.
I tried to loosen the trap with the steel bar, which the beaver would try to bite, but it just wouldn't work. I thought about putting the beaver out of his misery with the steel bar, but I wasn't too fond of that idea. So, I told the beaver, "Look, I'm to use the bar to hold the trap in place and I'm going to open it with my hand so you can get out. Please don't bite me, okay?" I held the trap in place with the bar, bent over, opened it enough for the beaver to get his foot out and he did. He never made a move towards my hand. Then he waddled off with a lame paw, or foot, or whatever you call it, and that was that.
I felt like a million bucks for the rest of the day.
Bottom line ... Beavers aren't cartoon characters. If you come across one, dont expect to get close up shots for YouTube ... especially with kids around.
Good advice with ANY wild animal.
Quote:
One day while making my rounds and pulling the traps out of the water and setting them off, I pulled one out that had snagged a beaver by the foot.
I am NOT a fan of traps. I think that while animals have no "right" to a humane death with as little suffering as possible, it's our duty to give them just that when we NEED to kill them. I'm personally against killing animals for anything but food or safety - when they encroach on OUR part of the world, not when we're out of place in THEIR part of it. So the idea of setting a trap in which an animal may be caught and remain alive but injured or starving until the trapper gets around to check his traps really turns my stomach. I'd rather see defenseless baby harp seals clubbed any day of the week than see another fur-bearer alive and caught in a trap. So I don't feel bad at all about your sabotage of the traps the neighbor set to catch the beavers that don't sound like they would have been there if it hadn't been for his unnatural lake.
Phil
“The biggest problem people have is they don’t think they’re supposed to have problems.” - Hayes Barnard
I am NOT a fan of traps. I think that while animals have no "right" to a humane death with as little suffering as possible, it's our duty to give them just that when we NEED to kill them. I'm personally against killing animals for anything but food or safety - when they encroach on OUR part of the world, not when we're out of place in THEIR part of it. So the idea of setting a trap in which an animal may be caught and remain alive but injured or starving until the trapper gets around to check his traps really turns my stomach. I'd rather see defenseless baby harp seals clubbed any day of the week than see another fur-bearer alive and caught in a trap. So I don't feel bad at all about your sabotage of the traps the neighbor set to catch the beavers that don't sound like they would have been there if it hadn't been for his unnatural lake.
Yeah, you took a chance, but personally I'm glad you did. Hate the thought of an animal struggling all day, or even 'days', in a leg 'trap'. Doesn't happen on my land, I can tell you that. I'm sure that guy is selling the fur, and has no thoughts about the animal.
Having spent alot of time and money on my personal quest to to see that beavers get the kind of treatment that they deserve, I must reserve further comments and, sadly I cannot seem to find my relevant videos of itinerant beavers I have found by the roadside.
But, I would certainly support a North American "Make a Beaver Happy Today" program, and would be willing to invest my time and even some money in this project.
I wonder if Oprah could help............
Censored
Look for me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Tic Toc...or anywhere you may frequent, besides SimHq, on the Global Scam Net. Aka, the internet. I am not there, never have been or ever will be, but the fruitless search may be more gratifying then the "content" you might otherwise be exposed to.
"There's a sucker born every minute." Phineas Taylor Barnum
