Working on the beaver dams/ duck hole

[_Wilson_™ 6,564]

sounds like a good relationship, maybe you'll finally rid your place of those pesky critters, you are going to post another video of this up coming atemp ? 

[jeepwm69 7,605]

1 minute ago, _Wilson_™ said:

sounds like a good relationship, maybe you'll finally rid your place of those pesky critters, you are going to post another video of this up coming atemp ? 

 

 

Yep.  I've just been digging them out for the last couple of weeks, but next time the neighbor is down I'm going to do it the fun way with a big can o tannerite.  I can bury it deep in the dam and set it off when he's there with his caps and det cord.

[WonderMonkey 720]

What sort of work would be involved if you got rid of the beavers and then YOU plug the holes however you want to make sure there some water in there for ducks?

[PROV 1,439]

Hey WonderMonkey, I just saw you changed your avatar to your picture. Pretty brave. If you're not missing teeth, have a mark on your head from the toilet seat falling while getting a drink or using that necktie to drag out a deer......I'm not sure they will allow you to continue using this site. 😁

[WonderMonkey 720]

1 hour ago, PROV said:

Hey WonderMonkey, I just saw you changed your avatar to your picture. Pretty brave. If you're not missing teeth, have a mark on your head from the toilet seat falling while getting a drink or using that necktie to drag out a deer......I'm not sure they will allow you to continue using this site. 😁

 

I received a waiver on another photo, then snuck that one in when they weren't looking.

[sled_22 845]

Tannerite is a funny compound isn't it. Wife wanted to do a gender reveal for our second kid so we got the powder and 8 lbs of tannerite. Was pretty cool blowing blue powder 40' in the air. When I was testing my rig to blow the powder in the air, I was hoping we could use pistols and be closer. Not even my 357 mag could get it to explode at 30 ft. I needed the 270 so I just put all the eggs/powder in one box and blew it skyhigh. It was pretty sweet.

[jeepwm69 7,605]

On 8/18/2021 at 6:05 PM, WonderMonkey said:

What sort of work would be involved if you got rid of the beavers and then YOU plug the holes however you want to make sure there some water in there for ducks?

 

Wellllll that's a possibility.  The duck hole is right next to a river though, so I imagine that any time I get rid of beavers, more will move in in short order.

 

The plan has been (if I can get the water level low enough) to install drain pipes in the dam.  I put some 4" PVC in place a few years back, sticking out a good 8-10 feet from the dam.  After a few days they figured it out and buried the end of the pipe.  After doing some research, the way to outsmart them is to drive T-posts in the ground and then extend that PVC out further, hanging the pipe 18in or so off the bottom.  That way water runs in, and they can't bury it/ figure out how to stop the flow.

 

But first I have to get the water level low enough to get out into what is now the deep part and drive the Tposts in place/ hang the pipe.

 

If I go that route I should be able to control the water depth somewhat by lowering or raising the pipe on the T-posts

 

Went out after a few days and they had really laid it in there thick. 

 

Took my about 30 mins with a garden rake and a shovel to get water flowing again.

 

 

[WonderMonkey 720]

No doubt a never-ending battle, as you have shown in this thread.  All very interesting, keep sharing!

[_Wilson_™ 6,564]

jeep i would imagine with the extra dry wether y'all are having the water is also evaporating there too? glad to see you breached the !. and, sounds like you've come up with a great plan to control the water level. 

[jeepwm69 7,605]

Water level is definitely down a lot, and with highs in the upper 90's it will be evaporating quickly as well. 

 

Need to get it dry enough for the lilly pads to die off so I can spread some millet out before a fall rain.  The Japanese Millet I have only takes about 45 days to produce seed heads, and the first frost here usually isn't until November, so I have plenty of time to plant if I can just get the lilly pads to die off.

 

Still too boggy to mow/ get in even the shallowest/driest part with a tractor.

[_Wilson_™ 6,564]

i had a koy pond at one time ..... always had to deal with the Lilly pads.... i can't  of anything you could use to kill them, that might not pollute the water...... i just kept mine sorted best i could, at the end letting them starve for water did the trick..... but i had already made up my mind to do away with the pond.. i sold the koy fish and ate the few catfish i had in it, plus the frog legs from the bull frogs i brought up and turned loose, so you might say they were farm raised .... lol! 

[jeepwm69 7,605]

 Finally making some progress. 

 

Took little bit out to check this afternoon and the beavers had not done any work during the day so the water was still flowing.

 

The edges of the hole are now starting to dry out, and the lily pads are slowly dying. If we can get a couple of dry weeks, I’ll be able to get in there and Bush hog the lily pads, and then will go out and broadcast millet when we have rain moving in again.

[jeepwm69 7,605]

@Fishfiles you outta feel right at home here 

[_Wilson_™ 6,564]

wow! now that's a crop of lily pads! i bet there's some great deal of frogs out there ? snapping turtles... and good fishing areas ? I'd say of things bad..... you have a good food supply.... plus the ducks.