You haven't heard the last of them. They're having a big summit as I type this. Beavers and squirrels love a good challenge. Will be staying tuned for the next round. Go Team 3 Point!!!! Big love from N.J.
Here's a tip, if you ever have to do it again. You can save your hands and WHOLE lot of time. Instead of wire wrapping the fence together, use hog rings and hog ring pliers. Those are the rings they use to tag the ears of hogs. You're explanation of why it works is correct, but the reason it works is that beavers are stimulated to dam based on the feel and sound of flowing water. The trapezoid shape creates the deception. When beavers try to plug it up they will do so because they feel or hear water running through the culvert. They begin near the culvert where the sound and flow is the strongest. Then, as they continue damming along the sides of the trapezoid, they are moving further and further from the culvert. Both the sound and the feel of the flow lessens as they move out. Eventually, they don't even know the water is flowing. As to why they haven't tried to do anything yet, there are a few possibilities. First, it looks like how you built it may make it harder for them to spot the movement or hear the sound on their nightly rounds. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to it. We protected 4 - 24" foot culverts flowing under a road to the septic field. We were playing beaver roulette like you. It has been working since then and they never once tried to dam the fencing, but I suspect the terrain here was also the main reason. that is because they could only hear it, but not feel the flow. We used 5' x 10' steel mesh with 6" x 6" openings. That's small enough to prevent an adult beaver from getting in, but large enough to not get clogged by seasonal debris. But let me tell you something about beaver proofing. There is no such thing. They learn and adapt. After 10 years of no real problems, we found the culverts were being clogged again. They hadn't dammed, but they were being clogged with mud and plant matter that was being bought in by juveniles small enough to fit through the 6" x 6" openings. They couldn't get in with sticks, so they stuck with mud and plants. We just overlapped it with more 6" x 6" mesh to the waterline, to make it 3" x 3". Keep an eye out for plant matter clogging your small mesh. Good luck and stay dry.
When interviewed, local beavers stated, "the beaver deceiver made us a believer, however, we still don't give "dam"! Life in the UP is never boring, thanks Dave!
Love the "Beaver Deceiver"! You may have to periodically clean the fence of debri...put your trapper buddy on speed dial..... Beavers are such a pain. I hope it works. Keep us updated.
Sad that beaver fur no longer brings $60.00 per pelt for a blanket sized one as the trappers would be managing the population during the prime fur season. Will be looking for updates as the summer progresses and fall arrives!
Just a guess, but the beavers may try their past practice of blocking the culvert with small pieces of material. If that doesn’t work, they will progressively go bigger. They may build a wall around your fence with small logs and then block that up. Look down stream, they tend to move down stream, find a choke point, and start a new blockage. Interesting read....DNR Beaver Managment procedure 2120.1. Good luck, thanks for the video.
It is still working great. Our problem now is that the beavers are damming things up down stream and the water level has gone over the road because of that. Check this one out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BiOR3KAbbss.html
You wouldn't say things like that, if you actually had your driveway look like their road and it washed out and flooded every single time it rained! I have spent thousands on my driveway because the blasted beavers causing it to get washed out every single time. I end up with huge crater holes. They are so big that It could hold maybe 5 adult human bodies. I literally have a pond that used to flow under my driveway... It is now at a stand still. It is the only access to my house not to mention that my driveway is private and it is over a half mile long I don't have neighbors near me. I am surrounded by woods. It's not like I can go through someone else's yard to get out to go somewhere. My property is becoming swamp land!~ Mosquitos are becoming a nightmare as well. I used to not ever get bitten by them. They are everywhere now. I hate mosquitos!!!!!!!!!!! I have to get that water flowing again. Even if it means Gam'ma has to give the beaver lead poisoning with her gun. I have got to get rid of the all the beaver on my property somehow! If it means a few of them will have to lose their life... Then so be it. There are at least 18 lodges in which beaver live on and around my property. I have tried to live with them. They are just growing their families larger, they are becoming more than I can take and costing me more money than I can afford. I have to do the work myself. I am getting too old for this crap!
