However, not all beavers construct and live in traditional stick lodges. In some places, beavers will dig burrows in the steep banks along rivers, streams, lakes or ponds. Beavers use established trails when traveling to and from feeding areas. They usually swim in the same places along the pond bottom. The presence of runs and slides is a sure sign that beavers inhabit an area. During the winter, beavers depend heavily on trees such as willow, cottonwood, sweetgum, pine, and most nut and fruit trees.
During the summer, beavers eat herbaceous aquatic plants, feeding on the basal portion of semi-aquatic grasses, sedges, cattails, water lilies and trees.
Beavers increase their tree cutting during the fall as they build up their caches of food for the winter months. Beaver dams stabilize creek flow, slow runoff and create ponds which benefit fish, furbearing animals and other wildlife.
Beaver pelts also are used in making hats. Southern beaver pelts, however, are of little economic importance because of their low quality fur. Most of the damage caused by beavers is the result of bank burrowing, dam building, tree cutting or flooding.
Levees or pond dams weakened by beaver burrows may collapse during periods of high water. If creeks, drainage ditches, culverts and spillways become blocked by beaver dams, adjacent pasture land, timberland and roadways can be damaged by flooding and erosion. Beavers can damage boat docks and fishing piers by building their lodges underneath them.
Beavers also can cause extensive damage to agricultural crops such as corn or sugar cane, although their damage is more commonly inflicted on trees along rivers, streams and lakes. In urban areas, beavers damage fruit trees, gardens and ornamental trees and shrubs.
Beaver control is best accomplished as soon as there is evidence of beaver damage. Once beaver colonies become established over a large area, controlling them can be difficult and costly.
Fencing of culverts, drain pipes or other structures can sometimes prevent damage; however, beavers often simply incorporate the fence into their dam. Fencing lakes and ponds to exclude beavers is generally not practical. Barriers of sheet metal or hardware cloth placed around the bases of valuable trees may help prevent damage.
The barrier should extend from ground level to a height of about 4 feet. A variety of traps and trapping methods is effective in controlling beavers. Live traps, leghold traps, conibear traps and snares can be used. Live traps are rarely used for beaver control except in urban areas where other kinds of traps might endanger humans and pets.
Live traps such as the Bailey, Hancock or similar trap should be placed in shallow water near a slide where the beavers are entering and leaving the water. A castor mound set will make the trap more effective. Castor mounds are small mounds of mud, leaves and twigs on which the beaver deposits its scent to mark its territory.
Commercial castor scent can be purchased from trapping supply houses; or, trappers can make their own by collecting the castor glands from beavers previously trapped. After live traps have been set, they should be secured with wire to prevent the traps from being pushed or rolled into deeper water. Double long spring or coil spring traps should be at least number three size in jaw spread and strength. All leghold traps should be placed in a drowning set see Fig.
While river otters, the otters found in Texas, may be found around the salty waters of the Texas Gulf Coast they are distinct from their much larger cohort. Male sea otters can weigh up to 90 pounds while male river otters typically reach around 30 pounds female river otters weigh around pounds.
Unlike back-floating sea otters, river otters stay belly down with most of their bodies submerged. They will also take over beaver lodges. A latrine is a simple toilet. A family or social group of otters all use the same latrine. Beavers may be more common in Texas than many of us realize. Legal trapping efforts help keep their numbers under control. The compulsion to build dams apparently is not limited by location.
They also feed on aquatic plants, ragweed, and Bermuda grass. In Texas, beavers do not typically build large lodges. Instead, they usually burrow into the banks of streams and ponds; and they transform less suitable habitats by building dams, creating wetlands that are beneficial to other wildlife. The slowing of the water allows sediment to collect, and improve water quality. You are likely to see signs of beavers at White Rock Lake, Bachman Lake, or any park with a creek running through it.
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