Live Trap and Relocate
Beaver Live Trap
and Beaver Relocation
Relocating beavers from one place to another has captivated the imaginations of humans for generations. Beavers often choose to set up their homes in areas that humans don’t want them yet remain absent from habitat (often remote) where we wish they’d choose to live. When this happens, people tend to think of trapping and relocation as a win-win solution and sometimes it is. However, it is also complicated — often requiring extensive planning and logistics.
Moving beavers in:
Relocation can be used as a tool to move beavers into places where people hope they will stay but remember to first investigate why beavers are not already there. If the new habitat does not have the right characteristics to support a beaver family, they won’t stick around or survive for long. For the best chances at success, beavers need:
Deep water available year-round: Areas with access to ponded water are easier for beavers to get established in.
The right vegetation: Beavers love to eat willows, aspens, and other deciduous trees, but not conifers or vegetation that is already heavily browsed by cattle or elk.
A safe neighborhood: First, check if people are regularly trapping beavers in the area.
Enough room: Beavers are territorial and will fight with beavers that are not part of their family.
Keep families together: Beavers are more likely to stay where they are released if moved as a family.
Moving beavers out:
Live trapping and moving beavers away from good habitat is rarely successful in solving landscaping disputes between humans and beavers, since a new beaver family can quickly move in to the newly emptied habitat.
In connected systems, beavers easily find empty habitat.
Long-term solutions: In most circumstances, coexistence solutions will provide the best long-term solution:
Pond Leveler
Culvert Protection
Tree Wrapping
Relocation is a last resort for when beavers try to make a home in areas where coexistence is not possible — like irrigation ditches.
Since live trapping and relocating beavers can be a lot of work, many nuisance beavers end up being killed by exterminators. Partnerships between those looking to move beavers out and those looking to bring them in can be a great way to prevent beaver deaths!