Beaver Management

Body-gripping traps - commonly known as conibear traps - are widely used by trappers for beavers. The size #330 conibear is the recommended trap. Body-gripping traps humanely dispatch the animal once triggered. Use caution when setting conibear traps and use safety hooks to prevent triggering the trap during setup. Conibear traps can cause serious injury. Traps must be placed in the water or along a beaver slide to comply with South Carolina regulations. Conibear traps cannot be baited.

Body-gripping traps should be set with the knowledge of the area and how the beavers may use it. Like all animals, beavers will leave behind signs that can tell a story. Try to intercept the beaver along its travel routes. Another approach is using a break dam set. This set is constructed by breaking part of a beaver dam to allow water to flow through it. The trap is placed in the water flow on the broken part of the dam. If beavers are active in an area, they tend to the broken dam. When they tend to the dam, the trap in the flowing water should intercept them at some point in the process.

Beavers can also be trapped using foothold traps. Foothold traps must be set using a submersion set. A submersion set is a trap set that uses aquatic animals’ instincts against them. When the trap is triggered, it engages the animal's instincts to swim under the water. The trap is secured to a cable, and the cable is anchored under the water using a stake or heavy object. A non-relaxing sliding lock connects the trap and the cable, meaning the animal submerges and cannot return to the surface. Foothold traps can be utilized effectively on beaver slides.

Pond levelers can be an excellent way for humans to coexist with beavers. Pond levelers are devices installed in beaver dams that allow water to flow through the dam without removing the beavers. Beaver ponds can have many benefits to the local ecosystem. They benefit fish communities, encourage plant diversity, slow erosion by reducing the velocity of flowing water, and much more. Pond levelers allow the beaver pond to remain while not letting it exceed a certain water level. These devices allow water to flow between the pond and the stream on the other side without alerting the beavers. If beavers notice running water around their dam, they will build their dam up more. This device allows water to travel from the pond to the stream below the dam completely underwater. Since it is underwater, the beavers will not detect the water flow. It is important to note that this device will not eliminate beavers or reduce damage brought on by the presence of too many beavers. This device is meant to reduce conflict with beavers without removing the beavers and the benefits they bring with them.

To construct a pond leveler, you will need the following items:

For an in-depth look at the construction of the pond leveller, follow the link below.