F@#kin beavers!!

[Treehuggn4life]

So my uncle is a ditch rider, meaning he is responsible for maintaining a large irrigation canal that comes off of the Rio Grande river in Colorado. He has about 133 miles of ditch to divert water around to the local farmers. I'm learning the ropes because he is retiring this summer and I will be taking over.

We don't have much to do until March so I have been cleaning up and removing a shit load of cottonwoods. We live right on the river and are surrounded by them. I finally got around to taking down a big beaver chewed tree. I literally think the rodent bit off more than he could chew. He ringed it completely around the circumference of the tree and chewed in about 6-8 inches on the leaning side of the tree. I am always amazed at how good these rodent lumberjacks are. I basically just had to finish up his face cut and make a back cut.

 

[lxskllr]

They can certainly tear some shit up. The farm at work has had most of the trees around the pond felled by beaver. We wrapped some of them in wire screening, or filter cloth. That works, but you gotta do it, and it uglifies the trees. The biggest is a willow that's probably half chewed so far, and it's 36" at beaver height. Can't easily get to it now cause the beaver blocked off the riser, and the pond's overfilled with water.

 

[pantheraba]

Good pictures!!

 

[FireFighterZero]

Ditch riding is a good job. One of the better paying ones up here on the High Poverty Plains.


Whats beaver selling for these days?

 

[Tree09]

depends.......

 

[Cobleskill]

We have had beaver in our creek. One was checking out our pond. My GF said awww, we should name it. I said I already have a name picked out for it....Dead Beaver.

Maybe the beaver caught wind of it. They left.

 

[Treehuggn4life]

I grew up trapping beaver and muskrat out here. I used to make good money as a kid untill the fur market went south. Trapping regulations in Colorado are just plain dumb now a days. You can only use box traps or snares on private property. But since this is private property Mr. Beaver is gonna be wearing a steel cable neck tie here shortly. I don't know how many beaver the old man has snared out of here in the last 40 years but it has to be in the high hundreds. They really wreck havoc on the ditch. The willows and cottonwood branches clog up the head gates.

The cool thing about this job is that I only really work during the spring run off for about 4 months and then I have the rest of the year to do tree work or go fishing.

 

[lxskllr]

The cool thing about this job is that I only really work during the spring run off for about 4 months and then I have the rest of the year to do tree work or go fishing.

I like the sound of that!

 

[Altissimus]

Years back with an old timer I've done quite a bit of Beaver erradication. Breach the damm first , then wait until the water is gone (you can tell by the smell when you're at the bottom) ... usually the Male Beaver comes out of the den next , all pissed off ... just before being shot to death

 

[Tree09]

What is it man? This is the third time

 

[Ed L]

Last spring.....effin critter was heading toward our pond, forgot to look before crossing the train tracks.

Ed

 

[flushcut]

"Nice beaver!"