alberta boy
Well-Known Member
Giardia . I've had it , very unpleasant ........... it's not much fun for anyone around you either . I will refrain from painting a mental image .
AB
Beavers - Rewilding
- Thread starter Foxyboy43
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AB
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
The dreaded Beaver Fever . There's a few strains , one leaves you nauseous , feverish and with crippling diarrhea . The other one leaves you broke , full of regret ( eventually ) and causes you to change the bars you drink at and makes you hesitant to answer your phone , or , in extreme cases , your doorbell . I've had both , devastating .Great, we need to release some of them then otherwise we got Apex Beavers running around everywhere shredding everything in sight, or we could get a harness on them & use em as lawnmowers or pulp up our hedge trimmings. As for Beaver Fever, I had that, kept me in bed for weeks.
AB
Cootmeurer
Well-Known Member
As to your concerns about hybrids between Eurasian and North American - rest easy. As I remember they have distinctly different Chromosome numbers (2N= 48 vs 2N=40) and cannot produce offspring (I think the Russians tried making crosses for a long time - and failed)
However - they do get large and likely to reach peak growth if introduced into an area with ample feed and no predation.
Here is one I trapped while teaching a fellow veteran. It went 67 pounds on a hanging scale
However - they do get large and likely to reach peak growth if introduced into an area with ample feed and no predation.
Here is one I trapped while teaching a fellow veteran. It went 67 pounds on a hanging scale
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
I guess you were trying to tell me that trapping is still going on. Yes it is, but no where near what is was up until about 1980. I really enjoyed trapping water fur bearers as a kid in Southern New England. Mink, muskrat, and coon were the staples back there. In Connecticut, we had some of the best grade muskrats to be caught, mine usually brought top dollar. In fact, all of the fur in my area got top dollar. Where I live now, beaver are the most plentiful fur bearer, good numbers of mink and otter too. Muskrat not so much, I believe the Nutria have run them out. It’s a lot of work, that trapping. With the price of fuel and the price of fur, it’s really done as a hobby for most now. There a few die hards that actually can make some money, for most though, it is a money losing event. One thing I can say though, trapping taught me more about wildlife than any other outdoor activity. It helped a great deal during my military service too. I could usually spot the bobby traps and where the mines were in our simulated war games. I do still get out when I have the time and my kids can tag along. Done properly, it is really a most interesting endeavor.Home - F&T Fur Harvester's Trading Post
www.fntpost.com
A Guy Out West
Well-Known Member
They wait for the water to rise and then leap over the dams. In wild environments it works well. In areas where man has altered the environment, perhaps not so well.
Giardia is pretty common already in Scotland!
No really - there are genuinely quite a few people out there who are adamant that they eat salmon. I’ve had quite heated conversations with them, and they’ve flat out accused me of lying when I say they only eat plants!
Of course any reintroduction is going to have substantial effects - positive and negative. The question is whether the positives outweigh the negatives - and different people weight the outcomes differently.
It should not be beyond the wit of man to devise a system that compensates the costs if the public as a whole decides they want beavers.
dartmoordog
Well-Known Member
I just hope we can educate Beavers to construct their dams to provide an adequately deep plunge pool, to enable our migratory fish to “jump” over the obstruction. Or perhaps a kind of pool and overspill construction……….If they all do that then we have no issues.
Cor that's a big Beaver.
sikamalc
Administrator
Beavers have been introduced into the UK many years back, its nothing new. They were introduced to a part of Kent near Deal, well over 25 years ago. And yet many public think this is all a recent event.
This particular colony have now expanded and some years back crossed a main road and found there way into a local fishing venue, where they caused quite a bit of damage.
Now all of this was a few years back, so i do not know what the status is these days. This rewilding business is becoming a new fad, and new word. Whilst I am all for protecting our ever shrinking countryside, I am not in favour of bringing back Lynx, Bear or Wolves. Beavers I can understand in some places, but if they cause too much destruction, then maybe we cull them. It will be interesting to see what the Scottish courts decide.
This particular colony have now expanded and some years back crossed a main road and found there way into a local fishing venue, where they caused quite a bit of damage.
Now all of this was a few years back, so i do not know what the status is these days. This rewilding business is becoming a new fad, and new word. Whilst I am all for protecting our ever shrinking countryside, I am not in favour of bringing back Lynx, Bear or Wolves. Beavers I can understand in some places, but if they cause too much destruction, then maybe we cull them. It will be interesting to see what the Scottish courts decide.
Not trying to tell you anything!
You are a spoilsport Malc, I think large brown bears would be a great asset. Certainly reduce the number of "off piste" dogs and probably their idiotic owners too. I of course would be happy with my armament sat in a high seat being entertained.
sikamalc
Administrator
Willy,
I used to occasionally shoot Ham Fen, way before the Kent Trust took it over. The rights were part of the Deal Wildfowl club ground, many years back. The beaver colony put in place on the Fen is nothing new. Trust me, they have got out and were on the other side of the road in the fishing lakes, Cottington lakes. This was about 14 years back. Whether they are still on the other side of the road I do not know, but I knew the manager of the lakes fairly well, and Beavers were seen.
This^
The piece I referenced by Salmon & Trout Conservation makes a relevant point here:
"Potential advantages flowing from the presence of beavers within a catchment for salmonids include:
- The deeper water in beaver ponds provides important juvenile rearing habitat (Scruton et al., 1998), as well as important habitat for adults during the winter (Cunjak, 1996) and in times of drought (Duncan, 1984)"
"Other studies have shown juvenile salmonids are able to pass over or through dams to continue their downstream migration (Bryant, 1964; Swanston, 1991; Alexander, 1998) and adults use side channels created by the diverted flow to bypass dams."
This is aside from spate conditions.
This tallies with the SALMONDAM conclusions, which note that:
"Although the beaver dams look like impassable barriers, the stream systems and dams are constantly changing and many opportunities for fish movement occur, especially following heavy rain events. "
Yes, I don't think beavers have much respect for fences or roads!
dartmoordog
Well-Known Member
Not quite so clear cut.
With any re-introduction there are clearly going to be potential benefits and conflicts - a point made in both of the papers I posted.
And this is exactly the point of it, lovely cuddely pics for all to see of our (native) wild life without the slightest consern of what impact it has, all the introductions have to be dynamic and photogenic eg sea Eagle, red kite,
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