Because I was draining the pond after not being repaired, and it was coming from another area when I caught it. I tend to place traps/ snares at entry or feeder streams/ dam crossovers, and can tell by position of the animals foot in a trap or snare what direction it came from. This time of year beaver are real susceptible to castor based lures. They present as a territorial marker for local beaver, and interest traveling beaver because they tell them the make up of the local beaver, meaning whether it is a male that is going to want to fight, or a lonesome female. An unmarked area lets the travelers know the area has not been colonized and free for the defending. Males the size of that last one pictured, are looking for open areas and they disperse earlier than the females the same size. They set up shop and the traveling females meet them enroute ,or even along the way. Pretty common this time of year to catch a male that size, that has many bites from getting chewed up by larger males, defending an established colony, because the alpha females are full of pups now. Some bites can also be from their own parents wanting them to leave the colony before the new pups arrive. It's common in rivers to see beaver traveling during the daylight hours, to avoid larger males in established colonies/ areas.
The problem with contracts this time of year, is that I'm trying to clear out the local population which creates a void. The travelers think that's pretty neat, and all they have to do is repair the dam and set up shop! I have completion dates on these type contracts, and guarantee my work, so I have to keep them out until those dates. The traps/snares at the entry points do a pretty good job taking care of the dispersing beaver, but some areas have so many beaver in the surrounding areas, and rivers are like interstates, so bidding some contracts is a gamble. I took the beaver out of these ponds in four days (two checks) but have already caught two beaver trying to enter these two ponds on ether end of the contract. Tomorrow I move into some ponds in the interior of the contract, while maintaining traps at the entry points, to help keep the outside ponds clear and water flowing. Meanwhile, there will probably be a couple hundred beaver migrating up and down the river this flowage drains into, in the next couple weeks.
This pond is on the West side of the contract and the second pond up from the control dam. Only took about 10 minutes once I had it opened up to fill the lower pool, which is pictured drained in the picture above.
This is the pool pictured above that was drained, and to the left (SW) is the control dam and road.
Had a surprise in one of my snares today. A big old snapper, not too long out of the mud. Had it snared by the head, and releasing it was kinda interesting. Believe it or not it never snapped at me once, and I was able to cut the snare off it and turn it loose. They are pretty sluggish this time of year, but can be a real pain later on in the summer once their metabolism has a chance to kick in. This one smelled pretty strong from being in hibernation. The snare is 9 feet long with a 900# inline swivel, with the snare anchored around that big log in the water. That long shadow in the picture is a pole I stand up in deep water and push into the bottom. When a beaver gets caught it swims out and around the pole and drowns. A turtle isn't that active and just noses into the mud or surfaces and waits my return, none the worse for wear. He did "moan" at me a couple times after I let him go.
Just caught one two year old beaver today, a migrant trying to find a new home, this is dispersal time for them, and into the end of July or so, with the females usually the last to disperse. Will be moving into a couple new ponds in a couple days.
This is looking East from dam or upstream from main West pond. Walked in here also today and set four traps.
