Beaver control

Beavers are back across north Georgia, and on a creek or pond they can change a property fast. One family can drop good trees, plug a culvert or pond outflow in a matter of days, and back water up into a yard, a pasture or a road.

Signs of beavers

• Trees chewed to a point or felled along a creek or pond bank
• Water rising where it did not before, or a culvert or pond drain that keeps clogging
• A dam of sticks and mud across a creek
• Slides and trails worn into the bank

How I handle it

1. Look at the whole site

   Where the beavers are, where the water is backing up, and what is at risk.

2. Remove the beavers

   Trapping is what solves a beaver problem. Tearing the dam out on its own just gets it rebuilt, often within a day or two.

3. Deal with the water

   Once the beavers are gone, I talk through the dam, the culvert or a water-level device, depending on what makes sense on your property.

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How did beavers become so common in Georgia again?

Beavers were once nearly wiped out in Georgia, as across most of the country, mainly through unregulated trapping and habitat loss. Georgia DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began restoring them in the 1940s, starting at the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, and a statewide restocking effort followed from 1949 to 1959.

It worked. DNR's current fact sheet says beavers are thriving statewide, that demand for their fur is low, and that there is no closed season on taking them in Georgia. With little trapping pressure, populations have had decades to fill in.

That history explains why so many property owners in our counties are dealing with beavers for the first time. They are not wandering in from somewhere unusual. They are recolonizing creeks and ponds that suit them, and DNR notes they are becoming more common in urban areas too.

What kind of animal am I dealing with?

Beavers are North America's largest rodents, and Georgia DNR describes them as semi-aquatic, living part of their lives on land and part in water. Heavy toenails on the front feet dredge mud for dams and dig bank dens, and large webbed hind feet do the swimming.

They are built for water. DNR's beaver booklet describes valves that close the ears and nose underwater, a clear membrane over the eyes, and lips that close behind the front teeth so a beaver can chew while submerged. The broad, flat tail is a rudder when swimming, a prop when sitting, and a warning signal when slapped on the water.

They are also long-lived for a rodent. Some beavers have been recorded living 21 years, though most do not live past 10. A family that settles on your property can stay for a long time.

How many beavers live in one family?

Beavers live in family units called colonies. According to Georgia DNR, a colony may include a breeding adult pair along with both yearling and juvenile offspring. The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management puts a typical colony at 4 to 8 related animals that resist outsiders joining.

DNR says beavers usually mate for life, and that if one of a pair is killed, the survivor will form a new pair with another beaver. In Georgia, breeding typically runs from October through March, and kits are born 105 to 107 days later. Once beavers mature at about two years old, they produce one to four kits a year.

This is why I plan beaver work around the whole family, not a single animal. Removing one or two beavers from a colony leaves the rest in place and still working on the dam.

Why do new beavers keep showing up on my creek?

Young beavers do not stay home forever. DNR explains that once offspring reach sexual maturity, they either leave to find their own territory or are pushed out by the adults. ICWDM notes that these young beavers often move to another pond to start a new colony, and some settle alone in abandoned ponds.

Beavers mark territory with castor mounds, small piles of mud and leaves scented with oil from their castor glands. DNR says they build these year-round, with more activity in winter and early spring during dispersal and mating.

The practical point for a creek property is the one ICWDM makes directly: if beavers on adjacent land are not controlled, expect periodic reinvasions, even if every beaver is removed from your own property. A good stretch of creek is exactly what a dispersing young beaver needs.

Where do beavers settle, and why here?

DNR says beavers are present in most areas with year-round water flow: streams, lakes, farm ponds, wetlands, and low ground or swamps along flood-prone creeks and rivers. They also turn up occasionally in roadside ditches, drainage ditches and sewage ponds.

ICWDM identifies low-grade streams, those with less than a 3 percent slope, that have culverts or other constricted spots as the places at highest risk for dam-building and flooding. A slow creek running under a driveway or road through a pipe is close to an ideal setup for a beaver.

Food matters as well. Beavers settle where aquatic habitat and trees come together, and ICWDM notes they may be abundant wherever both are available. A wooded creek bank or a pond ringed with hardwoods has everything they need.

What kind of damage do beavers cause?

Flooding is the big one. DNR lists flooded bottomland, pasture and crops, and ICWDM adds that floods from beaver ponds can undermine roads and interfere with septic systems. Residential developments have been threatened by beaver flooding as well.

Tree loss comes next. DNR notes that beavers chew almost any tree or plant, including valuable timber, planted crops and landscaping, and that they girdle and kill trees and shrubs while feeding. ICWDM records beavers cutting everything from 1-inch saplings to hardwoods 6 feet across, and says some girdle pines and sweetgums for the sap.

Less obvious damage happens below the waterline. DNR says beavers often damage fish and farm ponds through den and dam construction, and ICWDM notes that bank dens can collapse banks along farm and shoreline property. Falling trees are a risk to structures, power lines and people.

Why do beavers keep plugging my culvert or pond drain?

Damming is how beavers make a place livable. DNR describes three purposes for a dam: holding water at a steady level to protect lodges and dens, giving beavers deep water where they can move and escape predators more easily, and, most important, flooding vegetation so they can feed from the water. Floating sticks is also much easier than dragging them over land.

A culvert or pond drain is a narrow point where water is already moving, which makes it an efficient place to build. ICWDM notes that beavers respond quickly to the sound of running water and the pull of current. Moving water is the signal that tells them a dam needs work.

That instinct is why a cleared culvert so often gets plugged again. As long as beavers are living upstream, the open pipe is a problem they are going to fix.

Is it legal to trap beavers in Georgia?

Yes. Georgia DNR's trapping regulations set the general furbearer season at December 1 through February 28, but they state that there is no closed season for trapping beaver on private land. DNR's beaver fact sheet says there is no closed season on taking beavers in Georgia.

The rules still apply year-round. Trapping requires a license, either a commercial trapping license or the no-cost landowner trapping license. Trapping on someone else's land requires the owner's written consent, carried by the person setting the traps. Trapping on the right-of-way of a public road or highway is unlawful.

There are equipment rules as well. Traps must be checked at least once every 24 hours and labeled with the owner's name or DNR trapper ID number. Body-gripping traps larger than 9.5 inches square may only be used in water or within 10 feet of it, and snares for beaver must be set in water or on land within 10 feet of water.

Can beavers be live-trapped and moved somewhere else?

DNR's beaver booklet says it is possible to catch beavers in live or cage traps but extremely difficult. It also says relocating beavers is neither recommended nor legal without the permission of the landowner where they would be released.

The booklet gives two more reasons relocation rarely works out: few people are willing to have beavers released on their property, and moving them can spread diseases and parasites. A beaver dropped onto someone else's creek is simply that landowner's beaver problem.

For these reasons, the trapping methods DNR describes in its booklet are designed to be lethal. I will talk this through with you honestly before any work starts, so you know exactly what removal involves.

Why doesn't tearing out the dam work on its own?

Because the beavers are still there. DNR's booklet says removing dams and lodges has little impact on keeping beavers out of an area, that dam removal is laborious and expensive, and that dams are often repaired by the next day.

Repeated destruction can sometimes push beavers to move, depending on how much building material is around. DNR warns that displaced beavers may be even more troublesome at their new location, which might be a road culvert or a neighbor's pond a short way along the same creek.

DNR's conclusion is direct: dam removal is not effective unless the nuisance beavers are removed. ICWDM agrees that human disturbance has little effect on beavers. Once the colony is gone, taking the dam down is worthwhile, and it usually stays down.

Do pond levelers and flow devices really work?

Sometimes, and the research is clear about when. DNR calls the Clemson beaver pond leveler probably the most effective device for controlling water levels in a beaver pond. It uses a perforated pipe in a wire cage placed upstream in the deepest part of the stream, connected to solid pipe that runs through the dam or culvert. DNR says it works because beavers cannot hear the water falling or flowing, so they do not try to plug it, and that it works best in relatively flat locations.

A survey of 40 Clemson levelers installed by USDA Wildlife Services in Mississippi found that half were still operating and considered successful. Devices installed to manage wetlands, mainly for waterfowl, generally succeeded. Devices meant to give constant drainage relief were rated less successful. Seventy percent of the working levelers had received some maintenance after installation.

The most important finding was about the beavers themselves. Levelers in sites with high beaver activity frequently failed when no population control was done, and 95 percent of the successful sites had some population control before, after, or both. A flow device works best as a partner to removal, not a replacement for it.

When does a flow device make sense on a property?

ICWDM recommends installing flow pipes only under certain conditions: the landowner can tolerate some damage to trees and plants, there is enough room to handle normal seasonal flooding, and standing water will not undermine roads or septic systems.

It also warns that a flow pipe may simply cause beavers to move up or down the stream. DNR makes the same point: if beavers cannot plug a drainage device or a leaking dam, they will often build a new dam somewhere else.

So I look at a flow device as a way to hold a pond at a level you choose, or to keep a site manageable where some beaver activity is acceptable. Where the goal is no flooding at all near a road, house or septic field, removal has to come first.

How can a culvert be protected?

DNR describes a culvert fence made from #6 gauge cement reinforcing wire mesh, staked well into the ground in a rounded shape out beyond the end of the pipe. This keeps beavers from plugging the pipe opening directly.

DNR is candid about the weakness: beavers may just build against the fence instead and still cause flooding. Adding a drainage device through the fence keeps water moving even if they dam up against it.

For new construction, DNR notes evidence that oversized culverts, at least as wide as the natural stream, reduce how often beavers block them. That is rarely practical for an existing driveway or road, but it is worth knowing if a crossing is being rebuilt.

How do I protect the trees I care about?

DNR calls wire fencing the most efficient way to protect individual trees. A rigid welded-wire fence with 2-by-4-inch mesh or smaller, or hardware cloth, wrapped around the trunk, staked firmly to the ground and at least 3 feet high, is often effective. DNR recommends leaving 2 to 3 inches between the wire and the trunk so the tree has room to grow.

For a small group of trees or plants, DNR suggests a perimeter fence: a rigid fence buried at the bottom and at least 3 feet high, or an electric fence about 8 to 10 inches off the ground.

ICWDM describes a paint option: 8 ounces of fine sand stirred into a quart of latex or oil paint, applied to the bark from the ground to 4 feet high, and not used on trees under 6 feet tall. It notes that opinions on how well this works are mixed. Wire is the more dependable choice for a tree that matters.

Do repellents or scare devices keep beavers away?

Not in any dependable way. ICWDM states that no frightening devices are effective for beavers and that no chemical repellents are registered for them.

DNR's booklet says repellents are practical only on a small scale, are extremely short-term, and have uncertain effectiveness. It mentions that some commercial deer repellents have been tried, but that their effectiveness on beavers is questionable.

Repellents might buy a little time for a single valuable plant. They will not move a colony or stop a dam.

Are there health risks from beavers or beaver ponds?

ICWDM notes that beavers can contaminate water with Giardia, an intestinal parasite that causes illness in people. Its advice for anyone working around beaver water is to avoid splashing water in the face and to wash hands carefully before eating. Anyone who develops severe cramps or persistent diarrhea after working around beavers should see a doctor.

Rabies in beavers is very uncommon, according to ICWDM, though an infected beaver may attack. ICWDM also notes that beavers in urban areas can become used to people and may be aggressive if approached, while generally posing no threat to livestock or pets.

There are physical hazards too. ICWDM warns that drowning and hypothermia are serious risks whenever water work is involved, and that older beaver ponds can have runs and den entrances 2 to 3 feet deeper than the surrounding bottom. Wading into a beaver pond to pull at a dam is riskier than it looks.

Are beaver ponds ever worth keeping?

Sometimes. DNR calls beavers one of the most important animals in Georgia from an ecological standpoint. Beaver ponds provide habitat for many plants and animals, including critical nesting and feeding areas for waterfowl and other migratory birds, and they trap sediment and improve water quality.

DNR also lists benefits to landowners: hunting, fishing and bird watching, water for irrigation, flood control, and help holding up water tables during droughts.

DNR's advice is that a landowner should weigh those benefits against the harm before choosing control measures. If a beaver pond is back in the woods and threatening nothing, leaving it may be the right call. When it is flooding a road, a septic field or a yard, the balance shifts.

How do I handle beaver removal on a property?

It starts with reading the site: where the dam and lodge or bank dens are, where the beavers are traveling and feeding, and how many dams there are along the creek. DNR says trapping is, in the majority of situations, the most effective, practical and environmentally safe method of beaver control, and ICWDM agrees. Both stress that success depends on knowing beaver habits and placing the right traps correctly.

Beavers keep a regular schedule and regular routes. DNR describes them as primarily nocturnal, and ICWDM says they are most active from late afternoon until shortly after daybreak and usually stay in the lodge or den during the day. They wear runs and trails they use habitually, and those are where I set traps.

I follow Georgia's rules for trap placement and check traps at least every 24 hours. ICWDM notes that an experienced trapper can generally remove all the beavers behind a single dam in about a week, and that a large watershed with several colonies takes more. I will tell you which situation you have after I have walked it.

What happens after the beavers are gone?

Once the colony is removed, the dam can come out and stay out, and a culvert or pond drain can be cleared without being plugged again. Depending on the site, a culvert fence or a flow device may be worth adding at that point, for the reasons covered above.

Then there is the question of new arrivals. Because young beavers disperse to find their own territory, a creek with beavers upstream or downstream is likely to see more eventually. ICWDM is explicit that uncontrolled beavers on neighboring land lead to periodic reinvasion.

Watching for fresh chewing, new mud on an old dam, or a culvert starting to collect sticks lets you catch a new arrival early, when the job is smallest.

What affects the cost of beaver control?

The number of beavers and colonies is the biggest factor. One family behind one dam is a different job from several colonies along a long creek. Access matters too, including how far the work site is from a road and how deep and soft the water and banks are.

What happens after removal also shapes the job. Clearing a culvert, taking out a dam, fencing a pipe opening or wrapping trees are separate pieces of work, and not every property needs all of them.

Finally, what is at stake affects how quickly the work needs to happen. Water rising toward a road, a house or a septic field calls for faster action than a pond slowly creeping into the woods. Once I have walked the creek, I can lay out what the work will include and in what order.

Common questions

Where I do this work

Beaver Control across Bartow County, Cobb County, Cherokee County, Paulding County, Floyd County and Fulton County, Georgia.