Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Bite Marks on Beavers

Dwayne - great story!

So it's only the males that fight? Do they fight for territory year round?

Thanks, Dinny

Dinny;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope that this promises to be as mild a day for you folks down south as it's looking like on this side of the medicine line.

I'm by no means an expert on beavers, learning what little I know from a few older trappers - Harry, Stan and Willy - who are now all passed on.

They told me that the valley beavers here were what Stan would call "bank beavers" in that they didn't build houses often but would live in the river or lake side banks like muskrats do. Then the ones up the mountains in the little lakes on either side of the valley were more traditional in that they'd build lodges.

Stan and Harry both told me we had some of the largest subspecies here in the valley that they'd encountered, but I can't say how far and wide they'd trapped - for sure Stan did in the prairies too but not sure about further than that.

As I recall Stan didn't like the fact that the "bank beavers" would have rubbed fur more often and that would lower the price of the pelt as well.

Going off of foggy, pre-caffeinated memory Dinny, I can't recall them ever saying females would fight, though they may if they're over populated perhaps? That's a complete guess on my part however.

Anyway sir, we've no shortage of them down here in the Okanagan - here's one I snapped a photo of years back as I was commuting to work, it's a south Okanagan commuter traffic sort of issue.



When I first showed that photo years back, a few fellow 'Fire members opined life wasn't too, too bad here if that's the worst of my traffic problems and honestly I'd have to agree with that assessment all these years later.

I'm glad you enjoyed my story, thanks again for twigging my memory and letting my thoughts wander a couple decades back to hanging with some "colorful" folks.

All the best to you Dinny.

Dwayne

Beaver are very territorial and will fight frequently. If population numbers are too high the problem seems to be much worse.

I was asked to trap several farms along a small river in Eastern Washington back before the peoples republic of Snohomish and King counties deemed we would manage wildlife through the ballot box. No trapping had occurred on that river in several years. I was primarily a coyote trapper but it was coming into spring and I was done coyote trapping for the year. I thought it might open up some more good areas for me for coyote and cat and the beaver prices were fair at the time. The damage to trees in the riparian zone was tremendous.

I never before saw such bit up beaver. Nearly every one had multiple bite marks over the hips and lower back, both male and female. Some were so badly scarred up the buyers didn't want them. Fortunately castor was worth a lot that year or it would have been a loosing proposition. I took 88 beaver out of a twenty mile stretch of river. Only a handful were not scarred up. They usually came from small side drainages where they had built dams. The main river had no dams and I always felt that had some to do with the fighting as they had more territory overlap.

It took a couple seasons to thin the population to a level where the fur damage from bites was lessened significantly. It still occurred but with far less frequency.

Thanks for the info. I've trapped 5 out of a 20 acre swamp so far. Only time will tell if there's more. My traps are set and ready for them if/when they decide to return to my yard.

Thanks, Dinny

Use drowning sets when possible. Drowning sets keeps predators off the catch! Beaver will fight the snare, damaging the pelt. Beaver also fight for their territory and puzzy, that damages fur! Are they bringing any price nowdays? I haven't trapped in 20 years, some of my favorite outdoor experience's were on a trap line! My daughter and son in law, are teaching my granddaughters to trap. The kids, oldest 12 youngest 6, had trapped five Martin this year! Exciting times!