CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is offering suggestions to landowners dealing with beavers on their property.
While beavers can create some nuisances, Game and Fish encourages landowners to find ways to share the land.
“When possible, it is best to find ways to live with beaver, while mitigating potential conflicts,” Game and Fish said.
The department provided the following list of solutions to behaviors which can cause problems for landowners:
Game and Fish personnel are sometimes able to re-locate nuisance beavers, but the department said “this should be considered a last resort.”
“Live trapping is difficult, time-consuming, and often proves ineffective as a long-term solution for beaver-related issues.” Game and Fish said. “If they establish in a location once, that means it’s good beaver habitat and even if you remove one beaver, more will find that good habitat in the future.”
Game and Fish also encouraged landowners to become familiar with the benefits of beaver activity.
“With a little understanding of what beavers do and why they do it, many landowners may find the benefits of keeping beaver outweigh the inconveniences,” the department said.
Beavers efforts to build dams increases in the fall as the animals prepare for winter.
“Beavers build dams on streams to create ponds that give them protection from predators,” Game and Fish said. “Beaver ponds provide important wetland habitat for birds, deer, moose, amphibians, fish, and many other wildlife species. They create habitat diversity for trout, such as overwintering pools.”
“Additionally, the ponds recharge groundwater, filter sediment and excess nutrients from the water, and irrigate streamside vegetation. They also improve the resilience of landscapes to wildfires – segments of streams that have beaver-created wetlands are less likely to burn and provide crucial habitat for wildlife following wildfire.”
Game and Fish encouraged landowners to contact their local offices if they would like more information about solutions to address nuisance beaver behavior.
This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.
