Anyone have wolves keeping your bvr population down?

[RdFx]

Wondering if anyone else  is noticing the decline of bvr in wolf areas?   Every year the bvr population  is going down as  the wolf population  is increasing in my area.   Some ponds are dead and some only have one or two bvrs in them.  Shucks i wouldnt mind  if  the government let me take one or two of OUR  :twisted:   wolves   so bvr can   expand abit .  Dont mind sharing but its kind of one sided  :cry: .

[Bogmaster]

Lee,never had a problem with wolves taking beaver.As you know Minnesota has more wolves than any state but Alaska.The areas I trap beaver in have plenty of wolves and plenty of beaver.I have not seen any evidence where the wolves are bothering the beav.If it wasn't for me I think most of the beaver would die of old age.
 Tom

[RdFx]

Tom i  should give you a tour of my areas i trap .  At one time in one area i had 55 bvr ponds to trap and take some bvr from each pond.  Now i only have 17.   I know  the majority of these i trap alone  as they are way back in and no one else comes in.... Spring bvr open water trapping there are some trappers that trap  for a week or so in spring  on the roads where  water crosses but all that does is take the traveling bvr.  Maybe  MY Wisconsin wolves are smarter than yours  :wink: .  But at any rate I have noticed this change in my area as wolves have increased.  Maybe i should give my Wisconsin bvr a rest and come up and skin for you this spring

[yooperman]

rdfx heer in the U.P. the wolf population is growing very fast within the past 4 years .i have noticed the beaver population is changing in different places year to year.i dont think the wolves are taking a lot of bvr but they are doing a number on our deer heard

[RdFx]

Yoop  i  can understand that.  But think of this;  A  tasty  slow moving hamburger up on bank in woods.   A tasty fast moving hamburger with four sharp hooves.   Which one would you prefer with the least amount of energy expended?   I know wolves take deer  but  unless the deer is sick , wounded or in deep snow wolves DONT get them all the time while the slow moving hamburger im sure  is preferred LOL....

[yooperman]

yea im sure beaver wold be easy pickens .maybe its just because i have alot more deer hunters to express there thoughts on wolves than trappers  :?

[Bogmaster]

One thing about beaver,they arent going down without a fight. One of the farmers where I trap,had a 3/4 arctic wolf for his dog.He found a beaver away from the water and while he did kill it,it ripped him open big time.
I just haven't heard  complaints from MN. trappers that the wolves are hurting their beaver areas.Seeing that most beav are covered over by ice when a wolf is hungriest may have something to do with it.I would love to be able to blame wolves for any downturn in beaver populations,but in my areas wolves seem to be a moot point when talking beaver.
  Tom

[a1foxhopper]

I got to agree with yooper, I have'nt heard anyone really mention anything about that in Michigan. I'm from the southern part of the state and don't have to worry about wolves. Don't have very many beaver in my area either.

[steven49er]

I would have to agree with Tom on this one.  We have a substantial population in Mn for quite awhile and alot of the areas that have a good wolf population have a rather large beaver population.  Why?  Because most are remote with little or difficult human access.  

Will wolf depredate beaver?  I am sure but I would have to believe through my own observations that it would have little impact.

[Wackyquacker]

I've been thinkin RdFx and I haven't seen a beaver on any of my lines since they re-introduced the Lobos over in Katrin County...dang wolves anyhow!     And all this time I thought it was the lack of water.

[RdFx]

Nope  Wacky its not the lack of water its those BIG putty tats you have on yr line!  Why ive heard they  trash traps and snares like they were tin foil!

[Appleknocker]

I trap and deer hunt in the southern end of Baraga County in the UP of Michigan.  This is the worst I have ever seen for low beaver population, low heck it is darn near non-existent since I started in that area in 1975.  Deer population is also almost as low as it was back than, and deer camp had it's worst success rate since the 50's.  Wolf and coyote population are both the highest I have ever seen in that area.  Are the low beaver and deer population attributable to the increase in wolf and coyote?  The locals will certainly tell you it has a major bearing on the deer population but they don't have any comments on the low population of beaver.  One thing for sure it is not do to over trapping.  There is by far alot less trappers in that part of the UP.