All special trapping permit applications must be in writing on a form available from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. There are no exceptions for emergencies and no provisions for verbal approval. Although no special trapping permit is necessary for the use of live traps, a special trapping permit is required for the use of all traps other than live traps ( RCW 77.15.192, 77.15.194 WAC 220-417-040). The mountain beaver is unclassified and may be trapped or killed year-round without a permit. ![]() They are capable of producing a very bad bite and have very sharp claws.įor information on moving, trapping, and euthanizing mountain beavers, see Trapping Wildlife. Never attempt to handle trapped or wild mountain beavers. A wildlife damage control company can be hired to do the trapping, or you can do it yourself (see Hiring a Wildlife Damage Control Company). Mountain beavers can be trapped anytime, but for best results and for humane reasons it is best to concentrate the effort in late winter, before they give birth (see "Legal Status"). Long-term control is possible by first reducing or eliminating the mountain beaver population by trapping, and then continuing with a maintenance-trapping program to remove invading animals as they become evident. ![]() However, other mountain beavers will eventually enter the area if attractive habitat is available. Trapping and Lethal Controlīecause mountain beavers are territorial, removing them from an area may appear to solve the problem. Although the largest flea (Hystrichopsylla schefferi) in the world-it is up to ¼ inch long-is found on mountain beavers and in their burrows, it does not bother humans. Anyone handling a living or dead mountain beaver should wear rubber gloves, and wash his or her hands well when finished. Mountain beavers are not considered a significant source of any infectious disease that can be transmitted to humans or domestic animals. In addition, it is important to understand that mountain beaver problems rarely can be resolved by a quick fix method, but that a continuing commitment to whatever solutions are adopted is required. While you may be able to remove an existing mountain beaver population or force them elsewhere, if suitable conditions exist and mountain beavers occur nearby, others will eventually move into vacated areas. Mountain beavers occasionally will get caught in window wells. If the burrowing activity of mountain beavers is causing problems for livestock in pastures or undermining roadbeds, irrigation ditches, and earthen dams, see Muscrats for prevention strategies. Mountain beavers have primitive, inefficient kidneys and must drink 1/3 of their body weight in water every day. Mountain beavers will climb into trees to lop off living branches that are up to 1 inch in diameter. Food items are eaten on site, temporarily stored outside burrow entrances, or placed in caches inside burrow systems. (To distinguish mountain beaver activity from that of porcupines, note that mountain beavers eat from the bottom up and porcupines eat from the top down.) Mountain beavers also eat rhododendrons and other ornamental perennials, shrubs, and trees. On small trees and large seedlings, the side branches are frequently clipped off high in the tree, leaving 1- to 3-inch stubs. Multiple bites on the clipped plant can create a serrated edge, but more often a clean, slanted cut similar to those made by rabbits, hares, voles, and other rodents is evident. These are usually clipped off at or close to ground level, making signs of activity difficult to locate and invisible when covered by soil, vegetation, or debris. Seedlings less than 1½ inch in diameter are most often eaten. Look for signs of clipped twigs and branches and stripped bark on shrubs and trees. Vine maples, willows, alders, and conifers. ![]() Food items include all above and below-ground parts of ferns, salal, nettles, fireweed, bleeding heart, salmonberry, brambles, dogwoods, ![]() Mountain beavers are herbivores and eat a wide variety of plants. Monofilament recovery and recycling program.
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