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The most important point is that
<br />damage control should begin as
<br />soon as it is evident that a beaver
<br />problem exists or appears likely to
<br />develop. Once beaver colonies
<br />become well established over a
<br />large contiguous area, achieving
<br />control will be difficult and costly.
<br />
<br />One of the most difficult situations
<br />is where a landowner adjacent to
<br />one who needs to control beavers
<br />will not allow beavers on his place
<br />to be controlled. In this situation,
<br />one, c am e~pect, pe~ie~i¢..,,r~ei~va~
<br />sions of beavers and beaver
<br />damage.
<br />
<br />To the author's knowledge, no one
<br />has compiled beaver damage data
<br />nationwide, however, if it were
<br />done, a conservative estimate
<br />would be $75 million per year. In
<br />the southeastern states alone, the
<br />figure is probably close to $50
<br />million annually. This would in-
<br />clude all damage to crops, forests,
<br />roads, pastures, and other rural and
<br />urban proPerties, to commercial
<br />timber cOmpany lands, and to .
<br />public lands.
<br />
<br /> Although not covered in depth
<br /> here, there are a number of bene-
<br /> fits that can be credited to beavers
<br /> and beaver ponds aside from the
<br /> significance of creating fish, water-
<br /> fowl, furbearer, shorebird, reptile,
<br /> and amphibian habitat. The beaver
<br /> in many areas is an important fur ·
<br /> resource, and for those who have
<br /> not yet tried it, beaver meat is ex-
<br /> cellent table fare if properly
<br /> prepared. Recipes for preparation
<br /> and cooking beaver are found in a
<br /> number o~ pubHc~at'ix~. ~f~"cYne'"~s'"-
<br /> trapping beavers, the meat is a
<br /> valuable resource and can be
<br /> utilized whether the pelts are
<br /> worth skinning or not. After the fat
<br /> is removed and the meat is sliced
<br /> into thin steaks, it should be cook-
<br /> ed in the same manner as venison.
<br /> In fact, the taste is remarkably
<br /> similar. Carcasses of beavers also
<br /> make good dog food, and it is a
<br /> rare hunting dog that will not fight
<br /> over a piece of beaver meat. When
<br /> trapping for predators, beaver
<br /> meat also makes good bait.
<br />
<br />Acknowledgments
<br />
<br />I wish to thank past and present employees
<br />of the Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.
<br />Department of the Interior, those county ex-
<br />tension agents employed by the Arkansas
<br />Cooperative Extension Service, and the
<br />many landowners with beaver problems
<br />across the mid-South whom I worked with
<br />for many years for their cooperation. The
<br />experience gained in efforts to assist land-
<br />owners to learn to control beavers and other
<br />wildlife damage problems provided most of
<br />the information contained herein.
<br />
<br />Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5 from Schwartz and
<br />Schwartz (1981).
<br />
<br />Figure 3 by Jill Sack Johnson.
<br />
<br />Figure 6 by the author.
<br />
<br />Figures 7 through 11 and 13 from Miller
<br />(1978).
<br /> Figure 12 by Jill Sack Johnson after Miller
<br /> (1978).
<br />
<br />For Addition, l
<br />Information
<br />Byford, J.L 1976. Beavers in Tennessee:
<br /> control, utilization and management.
<br /> Tennessee Cooperative Extension Service,
<br /> Knoxville, Publication 687.15 pp.
<br />
<br />Hicks, J.T. 1978. Methods of Beaver
<br /> Control. Final Report. Research
<br /> Project No, W-37-R, Georgia 'Game
<br /> and Fish Division, Dept. of Natural
<br /> Resources, 3 pp.
<br />
<br />Hill, E,H, 1974 Trapping beaver and
<br /> processinli their fur, Alabama Cooperative
<br /> Wildlife Research Unit, Agricultural
<br /> Experiment Station, A'uburn'Lrnrversfty;.
<br /> Auburn, Alabama. Publication No. 1.
<br /> 10 pp.
<br />
<br />Manitoba Wildlife Branch. Trapper
<br /> Education Program. Beaver Trap Sets.
<br /> Winnipeg. 5 pp.
<br />
<br />Miller, J.E. 1972. Muskrat and beaver
<br /> control. Proceedings First Natiohal
<br /> Extension Wildlife Workshop, Estes Park,
<br /> Colorado, pp. 35-37.
<br />
<br />Miller, i.E. 1978. Beaver -- friend or foe.
<br /> Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service,
<br /> Little Rock. Circular 539.15 pp.
<br />
<br />Schwartz, C.W. and E.R. Schwartz. 1981. The
<br /> · Wild Mammals of Missouri, Revised
<br /> 'Edition. University:of Missouri Press,
<br /> Columbia. 356 pp.
<br />
<br />yon Oettingen, S.L. 1982. A survey of
<br /> beaver in central Massachusetts for
<br /> Giardia lamblia. M.S. Thesis,
<br /> University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
<br /> 58 pp.
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