Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Beaver Kills Dog

Something is going on in Canada, first we have deer stomping dogs now we have beavers killing them, wildlife must be fed up with things.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_print.html?id=3278484&sponsor

My Pudelpointer retrieves beavers that I have shot. Kinda makes me think twice now... Better be sure they are really dead before saying "fetch!"

That's cool. Touche!

Beavers of the Canadian variety are like pit bulls with a water tight suit and a great big flapping tail. What they do is clamp on and drag the stupid organism into the deep end of the pool.

Actually many attacks on dogs occur on land.

I was sitting on top of a beaver house about ten years ago, calling moose. After a while a beavr came out of the house and was building a feed bed out front. He eventually climbed up on the house, I moved the muzzle of the rifle to cover him. He saw me when half way between me and the water and moved so fast to the water that he was gone before I could react. Had he attacked instead I would have been seriously injured before being able to shoot him. They are no laughing matter.

Randy

n007;
While I can't say how big the beavers in the story were, I can tell you some Okanagan beavers are really quite large, especially the males.

Many years back now, perhaps 20 or so, a friend and I were launching our boat to do a little bass fishing in Tuc-Ul-Nuit Lake from another friends yard, this fellow being the local nuisance trapper at that time.

He called us over to show us a pair of beavers he'd trapped, I think south of Oliver, perhaps in Osoyoos itself, but in that general area.

I picked up the skinned carcass of the largest one and when I held it up under the "armpits" in order to get the tail off the ground, I was almost looking it in the eyes, or it's armpits would have been almost level with mine.

Now certainly the tail on a large adult beaver is indeed long and as noted many times in the past, I'm all of 5'6" waving my arms in the air. Nonetheless and those factors considered, that was one large rodent.

Being a rodent as well means they aren't really ready to split the atom or do quantum physics, so even the sober fact they are dead might take awhile to sink in sometimes. I hit one crossing the road on the east side of Skaha Lake one night just out of Penticton. While it did enough damage to my wife's Jetta that eventually cost ICBC $800, it still staggered off into the lake!

That's all the beaver stories that I can share in good conscience tonight I believe. I hope you and yours have a good weekend n007.

Regards,
Dwayne

no surprise, i have seen beavers ruin many a big strong man. they use their secret weapon, alimony.

I saw a beaver squished on the road in Connecticut once. I stopped, got out and walked over. I could not believe how big it was. We caught and relocated them in college in suitcase traps. This one wouldn't have fit in our traps. It looked like a small bear. I haven't seen the likes of him since, but I can attest that up here in New England they get big.

The more you run over them, the bigger they get, too.

I never heard of beavers killing dogs. Must be a Canadian thing. I was chased be a muskrat last March though.

As soon as I saw this thread, I knew it had to be in the Canadia forum.

Maybe we can look forward to threads like "the best pistol for beaver defense," or ".308 vs. '06 for beaver."

Or, "when it comes to beaver, size matters".

An even bigger rodent is a capybara, and a big one can kill several dogs in a short amount of time.
My son's GSP killed a beaver with a little help from our collie, but she had some impressive wounds that took a while to heal.

I could tell you about a couple of beavers I shot at one night about 20 years ago, but time and a "few" beers that night, but man I tell ya, i was CHAMPION

The size of beaver pelts is determined by summing the length
and width of the pelt.
2XL Over 165 cm Over 65"
XL 152-165 cm 60"�65"
L 140-152 cm 55"�60"
LM 130-140 cm 51"�55"
MED 119-130 cm 47"�51"
SM 107-119 cm 42"�47"
X-SM Under 107 cm Under 42"

Our oldest son, at age 14 I think, caught his first beaver. -Conibear 330 - He made a pack with it and brought it home to show his mom. With great pride he dropped it on the living room floor carpet still wet. My wife, being a "village girl," had never seen a beaver. She was first terrified and in shock that he had "dumped that thing on her carpet," then she asked him if bear trapping season was in.

He skinned and stretched it before I got home and cut the castors in the process. (There's a reason why their name is "Castor Canadensis")

Oh, the aroma of beaver castor emanating up from the cellar and wafting through out the parsonage on prayer meeting night. That smell is not quite as strong as skunk but it does have it's own particular characteristics! "Twas no problem for me. After all, the smell was nearly gone by spring.

That beaver measured 66 inches if I remember correctly.

I've had many experiences with "Castor Canadensis," but that's my favorite.

Thanks,

Jim

Beavers Responsible for much of the Destruction in Canada's North
- CNS

According the Canada's Ministry of Northern Indigenous Animals, approximately 1500 Canadians lose their lives to unprovoked, wild beaver attacks every year.

"Unlike black bears, beavers are not afraid of man." says Dr. David Zuzuki, Canada's premier scientist, who is the government's expert on anything to do with the outdoors or the environment.

"They will attack anyone that they perceive to be a wood user." Zuzuki told a gathering of world scientists in Vancouver last spring.

"It may be our national animal. It may be looked upon by city people as a representation of an industrious, hard working creature. In reality, it is destructive, vicious and a known germ carrier."

Zuzuki claims that over fifty percent of Canada's aboriginal people living north of the 50th parallel have been killed and eaten by beavers since the 1600s.

"Before they were known to the Hudson's Bay Co. or Europeans in general, many native groups used to defend themselves against attacks by rampaging packs of wild beavers. Native people said nothing to the newly arrived French and English fur trappers because they hoped the beavers would eat them instead. There was also a language barrier."

When Europeans started harvesting beavers for clothing, the average weight of a male was 66 kg or 146 lb. It was nothing for three or four hungry beavers to take down a bull moose or a grizzly bear. Even armed men did not stand a chance.

Beavers were also hunted for their testes, which the English believed, if consumed, would increase their fighting ability, muscle tone and tenacity. This was at a time when the Spanish and French threatened the island nation with annihilation.

Beaver teeth grow continuously throughout their lifetime. Of the three main species of carnivorous beavers that inhabit Canada, western, meat eating beavers used to have large, fang-like teeth they skillfully used to tear and rend. Bears, moose and elk were some their favourite animals to consume. At one time, CASTOR INSIPIDUS was at the top of the food chain until disease decimated much of the population in the late 1700s.



Tapestry drawing from Tudor times.

A strain of rabies took its toll and CASTOR INSIPIDUS is only found in parts of the North West Territories and Ontario around Hudson Bay. Are they still dangerous? According to Dr. Zuzuki,

"These days, CASTOR INSIPIDUS is a solitary creature and very hard to find. Occasionally, you will hear about a northern native settlement being attacked, but it is rarely mentioned in the newspapers. The federal government is embarrassed that they cannot protect their citizens in the far north. Certainly, the UN would protest (and has, in fact - ed.) to demand something be done."

Despite what former American Vice President Al Gore has said about global warming, the beaver, not glacial erosion, is responsible for the decline of caribou, the polar bear and other species found in Canada's fragile northern areas.

Even into the 21st century, the beaver is one of Canada's shameful secrets.

Ha ha! I love it. That one beaver is so ferocious that it is biting off it's own huevos! What terrifying creatures these CASTOR INCREDULOUS must be.

Its ok to eat Beaver on Friday.

No, that�s not a sexual innuendo. The 17th century Catholic Church actually declared beavers to be a fish according to dietary restrictions, meaning they are ok to eat on both Fridays and throughout Lent. Beaver meat was a common dish by Native Americans and French settlers to America, so the decision was believed to be important to these people�s behaviors. The church decisions are based more on an animal�s environment than their physical characteristics.

That pudelpointer is a damm fine looking dog!! How does it do on upland game?