Kubota 2 Beavers 1
shortmagnum
Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 848 Wisconsin Pics |
2004-09-22 97033
After one year I finally got the backhoe I bought up an running. I ended up putting a PTO pump and 10 gal tank on it. It pumps enough so that I barely need to run the engine much over idle (about 1500 RPM). More than that and the swing is too fast.
Even before I was completed I had to dig out the beaver dam that's been bothering me. The tank was roped to the side of the backhoe barely hanging on but I could tell right away that it would work. It made short work of the sticks and mud that have been a pain in my side for years. My buddy looked at the ropes holding the tank on called it "Jethro'd up." So that prompted me to finish the tank mounts and now it looks and works pretty good.
Of course the beavers rebuilt the dam that night so the next day I dug it out again and that night I snuck down there with the old sixteen gauge. There was one of the little monsters swimming towards me about 15 yards away. He didn't swim far. I'm starting to act like Bill Murray on Caddie Shack.
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
Iowafun
Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 955 Central Iowa Pics |
2004-09-22 97052
I had a coworker ask me if I used a backhoe on my gopher problem. It's tempting I tell you! Beavers vs 16 gauge. Yep, they don't quite compete with that. ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
Animal
Join Date: Posts: 1 |
2004-09-23 97092
Don't flatter yourself. Bill Murray has more brains than the two of you combined! ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
shortmagnum
Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 848 Wisconsin Pics |
2004-09-23 97094
Sounds like we've got an animal rights activist troll here. Why don't you come on up and give one of those giardia spreading oversize rats a big kiss. Don't step in the #330 connibear though. It might hurt.
Dave ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon Pics |
2004-09-23 97104
I dunno. If Bill Murray is the smart one then maybe you guys should be using dynamite :) ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
DennoAce
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 105 usa |
2004-09-23 97107
lol good call ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
shortmagnum
Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 848 Wisconsin Pics |
2004-09-23 97116
Ken, dynamite was my plan for the first dam destruction. It would have provided a good show. The friend who "commented" on my fabrication job thought he had a licensed explosives expert lined up. But it was not to be. The guy was lying about his expertise. So it was back to the backhoe plan. At least Wisconsin is pretty liberal about what it will let you do to get rid of beavers on your own property.
Dave ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley |
2004-09-24 97132
Removing the beaver rather than the dams works better I think. A shotgun works for beaver removal but takes a lot of time sitting around I imagine. Around here you'd just call up the trapper who has the district and provide encouragement to trap that particular family out. Some encouragement is needed since beaver pelts taken in most areas (and especially during the summer) aren't worth enough to make tapping them worthwhile. The usual encouragement can provide a good time for all concerned--except for the beaver of course. Of course, more will be back next year as long a poplar are standing--another excuse for more encouragement.
....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
shortmagnum
Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 848 Wisconsin Pics |
2004-09-24 97139
Tom, I agree. Removing dams will do almost nothing to get rid of them. But it IS the fun part. My brother trapped quite a few out last winter but as you say, the pelts are no longer worth the effort.
Now if I were a marketing genius I could imaging getting someone like Deon Sanders to wear a beaver hat on the sideline of a football game. That would start a demand for beaver hats that would spread across the country making beaver pelts valuable again.
Deon, are you logged into tractor point? ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada Pics |
2004-09-24 97150
Dave, see if you can get Scooter to send you some of those Gophers of his, if you could get them to dig holes in the dam, then the water would drain, drowning the gophers and the beavers would leave because there was no pond.
Now is that not the perfect engineering solution? ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
shortmagnum
Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 848 Wisconsin Pics |
2004-09-24 97152
Murf, that would be a great solution.
But wouldn't you rather have a nice warm beaver hat? I've heard they're the latest thing with the celebs out there. :) ....
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Kubota 2 Beavers 1
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada Pics |
2004-09-24 97163
I've got a nice warm fur hat, made from different fur-bearing rodents, several black minks now keep my folically-challenged size 8 melon warm on even the coldest of Canadian winter days.
Best of luck. ....
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