Author Topic: pic (Read 565 times)

fishdaddy · « **on:** December 12, 2004, 01:48:40 PM »

theres 9 of these in the pond all active does anyone have an idea how many beaver are there?
fish.

Buzzard58 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2004, 01:55:48 PM »

how big is the pond ??

blackpowder man 0106 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2004, 02:00:59 PM »

enough to keep ya busy :wink: ... let's see.... most lodges have at least two beaver to them unless something happens to one, but They tend to find a new mate after the old one dies... so at least 2 per lodge. Then you need to think of younger ones that weren't booted out. So a minimum of 18... unless for some reason theyre using more than one lodge? All the ponds I've trapped have had one lodge per family though... and there seems to be boundaries in the ponds that they dont cross almost. I've got a biggg stretch of flooded timber with 3 lodges, and there are sections in between lodges that aren't cut at all and all the duckweed has no paths through it from where they've been swimming, except for a few little lanes from muskrats and wood ducks. Maybe they all are living together in one pond though, I'm not an expert on beaver behavior so who knows.... Just my guess.... but I'd think there wouldnt be 9 seperate families in a small pond...

dustin

fishdaddy · « **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2004, 02:15:06 PM »

buzzard the pond is about 3 acres.

blackpowder thx for the info our season dont start till dec 26 i am going to try castor mounds .these beaver have never been trapped.
fish.

Buzzard58 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 12, 2004, 03:00:33 PM »

ok, from my experience............there is no possible way that there are 9 active beaver huts on a 3 acre pond...........while you may have a colony there.......you probally dont have much more than 4 to 6 beaver there...........just my guess?

RdFx · « **Reply #5 on:** December 12, 2004, 03:09:55 PM »

Im agreeing with Buzzard on this one but it can go either way... If there isnt much food at all could be only one and then again alot of food possible more than 6.

fishdaddy · « **Reply #6 on:** December 12, 2004, 03:18:20 PM »

it may be bigger than 3 acres im not to good at judging size.ill get mora pics this weekend.
fish.

Bogmaster · « **Reply #7 on:** December 12, 2004, 04:30:31 PM »

In the areas I trap, a full colony averages 10 beaver.The adult pair,4 2 year olds and 4 yearlings.Now this varies on age of adults,trapping pressure and nature. I had one female that had 10 pups a year.Missed her the first year but not the mate and 20 of her youngsters.The next year took her ,her new mate and the 10 young she had that year--she weighed 85 pounds the fall I caught her.
The areas I am trapping now are devoid of 2 year olds--catching lots of very large adults (most in the 60 pound and better range)and young of the year--but 2 year olds are not there.Trying to figure out what happend almost 2 years ago,that caused either the deaths of these beaver or them not being born.I should make mention ,that trapping did not take place in these areas,my partner and I are the only ones able to be in these spots.
Just one of the things that will always keep us guessing.
Tom

steven49er · « **Reply #8 on:** December 12, 2004, 05:20:46 PM »

I agree with Buzz on the number of active huts, unless the same family group is using them all. Never seen anything like that myself. I have seen them use two lodges many times but not that many.

Wether the pond is 3 acres or 20 acres I dont recall ever seeing more than one family group on the smaller ponds. Not saying it doesnt happen on the smaller ponds just dont recall ever seeing it.

Bogmaster · « **Reply #9 on:** December 12, 2004, 05:39:29 PM »

Fish,are ther any feedbeds near these lodges?
Steve,just got done trapping a spot with two colonies .These were bank denners and their dens were less than 100 feet apart.The 4 adults taken were all very large,I suspect that they were related and thats why they tolerated each other.Lately I have been seeing this more and more.
Tom

fishdaddy · « **Reply #10 on:** December 13, 2004, 02:27:15 AM »

i dont no about the feedbeds there are a lot of cutting around bothj old and new these beaver have never been traped.
fish.

diggdug · « **Reply #11 on:** December 17, 2004, 04:50:14 AM »

THAT LOOKS LIKE A MUSKRAT HOUSE TO ME! :lol: