The river beaver is very peculiar and unusual beast . Refers to fur animals: its shiny fur is in great demand on the market. One can only envy the beaver's daily routine - it adheres to a very strict regime and hierarchy, so beaver hunting requires increased care and self-discipline.

The color of the fur of the river beaver is very diverse and varies from completely black to brownish-sandy. Molting in a beaver begins in spring and continues until the very end of autumn. During this entire period, the color of the fur does not change - it only acquires new qualities, becoming beautiful, silky, dense. On the tail, hair is practically absent and is found only at its base, since it is covered with large horny shields. The river beaver has small eyes and wide eyes. short ears, which almost do not protrude above the level of the fur.

Beaver Dams and Beaver Settlements

Although the beaver is essentially considered forest dweller, in fact, a continuous array of trees is completely useless to him: the presence of shrub vegetation near the shores of reservoirs is much more important. Most often, the beaver settles on coastline forest streams and rivers, along ponds and forest lakes, near river oxbows. At the same time, the beaver tries to avoid fast streams and prefers relatively calm areas. The place for building huts is chosen taking into account the convenience of the banks and their impermeability in winter period. Beaver settlements are especially numerous in forest-meadow regions. China, Mongolia, Kamchatka, Khabarovsk Territory, in the Baikal region, in the Kuzbass, in the upper part of the Yenisei River, as well as throughout Europe. Beaver highly values ​​family relationships. Usually one beaver family occupies a whole lake or pond, but sometimes there are single individuals who do not let anyone into their own possessions. In general, the river beaver feels very good in the water: little beavers learn to swim already on the second day after birth, and after a year or two they leave the family. This often happens in the spring. In nature, beavers live a very long time - from 20 to 23 years.

The area on the river chosen by the beavers is about 300-400 meters, occasionally reaching 3 kilometers in length. It depends on the nutritional value coastal shrubs. Beaver settlements are located chaotically: they can overlap each other, touch along the border, or be at some distance from their neighbors. If the depth of the stream leaves much to be desired, river beavers create dams suitable for habitation, on which a settlement is subsequently settled. The beaver dam reaches a height of 1-1.5 meters, a length of about 150 meters, consists of silt, grass, branches and stumps of trunks and is able to withstand the weight of an adult. If there are stones at the bottom of the reservoir, they are also used as a building material. Settlements are used year-round, unless there is a lack of fodder nearby. Otherwise, the family all together moves upstream.

River beaver. What do beavers eat

As soon as summer comes, beavers come out of their huts and holes at dusk and work up to 4-6 hours until the sun will rise. Autumn is the time for harvesting branch fodder stocks, so the working day of river beavers increases from 10 to 12 hours a day. The least activity of beavers falls on winter time: they occasionally carry out short journeys under the ice for food, which are limited to ice vents, huts and burrows, that is, those places where a beaver can climb out to the surface and breathe.

River beavers feed on fresh bark and young shoots. Most of all, alder, bird cherry, oak, elm, linden, hazel and birch are in demand. River beavers can fell trees over one meter in diameter. To do this, beavers gnaw a massive trunk at its very base.

beaver hunting

For, to start beaver hunting, you need to know the beaver's routine and exact habitats, since beavers are predominantly twilight animals that build themselves not only dams and huts, but semi-huts, lay holes, depending on the area of ​​search for food. But occasionally beavers can also be seen during the day. To hunt for a beaver from the approach in the daytime (that is, when approaching on foot and with a gun), you should come to the reservoir by 15 o’clock and stay there until dusk, moving carefully along the coastline all the time - absolutely slowly, looking at everything, making stops and figuring out if anyone is swimming up.

But still, the peak activity of beavers falls at night, starting at dusk (approximately at 18 o'clock) and lasting until dawn. The first to appear are usually younger river beavers - half-and-a-half and underyearlings. Adult beavers are more vigilant and careful, so they come out a little later, under cover of night. The male always swims first. Going outside, he "gives the go-ahead" to the appearance of the rest of the family, loudly slapping the water with his powerful tail. This is a sign for the hunter to be more attentive and focused as the prey begins to emerge from the burrows. Such slaps are audible quite well, spreading for 200 meters around and serving as a guide for the shooter of the exact location of the beaver settlement.

Most a suitable place to hunt for a beaver from an ambush is near the beavers' habitation, having found which it is necessary to find the most optimal point for the review. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the river beaver chooses the highest bank, which is not flooded during the flood period, as the main place of settlement. It also digs holes in the deepest part of the water source - if it is small (a forest stream, for example, or a shallow pond). Consequently, pits and whirlpools in rivers are also frequent zones of beaver settlement. At the time of sitting, it is necessary to carefully listen to the noises, because often they may turn out not to be the splash of fish or the usual crackling of dead wood, but the echoes of the vital activity of river beavers. Gurgling, crunching of branches, falling of an undercut tree, gnawing - all this suggests that the beaver is somewhere nearby and may be available for a shot. Aim if possible so as to cause less harm to the skin of the beaver. A volley is made only for sure, because frightened beavers prefer to sit in a hole, not showing up in a dangerous place for a long time.

Activity

The beaver is predominantly a crepuscular animal. In a calm environment, you can often meet them (more often lactating females and underyearlings) in the middle of the day. The study of the dynamics of gas-energy metabolism and cardiac activity showed that in all seasons of the year two phases of rise and fall are clearly expressed. The highest peak of oxygen consumption is observed at night, between 1-2 hours. During this period, oxygen consumption reaches 303 ± 32 ml-kg/h, and heat production 6.459 ± 0.364 kzhd-kg/h. The minimum value of these indicators is observed at noon from 13:00 to 14:00 and equals 232 ± 15 ml-kg/hour and 5.245 kJkg/hour, respectively. The second rise in activity occurs in the evening, it gradually increases from 3 to 8 pm, and from 9 pm to 10 pm there is a decline, then rise again by 1 am.

Oxygen consumption at night increases by 30%. and heat production by 23%. The study of the daily dynamics of cardiac activity confirmed the two-phase cycle of daily activity. The pulse rate during the phases of activity reached 90 beats/min, and during the hours of decline - 69 beats/min. Most of the time, the beaver is in a state of dormancy. In summer, the pulse rate is slightly higher (100 and 70 beats/min in different phases of activity). During this season, the motor and feeding activity sharply increases. In winter, a beaver spends 39% of its time on movement and eating, and up to 60% in summer.

Beaver Platinum. Photo: Julius

However, in autumn, during the period of the most active life, when there is a massive harvesting of food, the repair of old and the construction of new dwellings, and sometimes the repair of dams, the animals come out before sunset. In winter, beavers may not come to the surface for several months. Often they use voids under the ice, cruising to the location of natural food or to warehouses. Obviously, they can gnaw holes in the ice. In some cases, tunnels are made under the snow. They are even more active in the presence of non-freezing areas near the settlement. Sometimes through vents day and night they come to the surface, feed and even replenish food reserves. Food is also eaten at home.

There is a clear dependence of the activity of the rodent on the surface on the air temperature: when the frost is below 20°C, the beavers do not go outside. They do not hibernate, but winter metabolic depression is known (a decrease in activity with a decrease in body temperature by several degrees). When diving under water can stay up to 15 minutes. Of the sense organs, hearing and smell are relatively well developed.

Habitat, movement. They live in groups with the number of individuals from 2 to 7; usually this is a family consisting of two animals of three generations: spawners, underyearlings and yearlings. Parental pairs are quite durable, sometimes they last 5-7 years. Settlements of solitary beavers are rare. The beaver is territorial and marks and guards the boundaries of its settlement for almost the entire period of open water.

If the woody fodder vegetation is poor, then a channel-type settlement can occupy 2–3 km of the channel. In pond-type settlements, one family can have a cascade of 2-3 ponds 100-200 m apart. In settlements of the oxbow type, as a rule, one family occupies the oxbow. But on very large reservoirs, the length of which is about a kilometer or more; and the number of stretches is more than two, two families can live. Sites of individual settlements may be in contact.

Animals can leave the habitable area, and after a few years re-populate it. Beavers move down or up the river for a distance, often measured in tens of kilometers, and master a new section of the reservoir. Sometimes they overcome watersheds and pass into the basins of neighboring rivers. The main reason for such migrations is the depletion of food resources. This phenomenon is observed more often in the northern regions, where the herbaceous vegetation is usually poorer, and the replenishment of tree and shrub forages is slower. Resettlement can be caused by the achievement of sexual maturity and the drying up of water bodies.

Lifestyle

Beavers live in burrows or huts. The entrance to the beaver's dwelling is always located under water. Beavers burrow in steep banks; they are a complex labyrinth with 4-5 entrances.

The walls and ceiling of the burrow are carefully leveled and compacted. The living chamber inside the burrow is arranged at a depth of no more than 1 m. The width of the living chamber is a little more than a meter, and the height is 40-50 centimeters. The floor must be 20 centimeters above the water level. If the water in the river rises, the beaver lifts the floor as well, scraping the earth from the ceiling. Sometimes the ceiling of the burrow collapses and a flooring of branches and brushwood is laid in its place, turning the burrow into a transitional type of shelter - a semi-hut. In spring, during high water, beavers build beds of twigs and twigs on the tops of bushes with dry grass litter.

Huts are built in places where burrowing is impossible - on low swampy banks and on shallows. Beavers rarely start building new housing before the end of August. The huts look like a cone-shaped pile of brushwood, fastened with silt and earth, up to 1-3 m high and up to 10-12 m in diameter. The walls of the hut are carefully coated with silt and clay, so that it turns into a real fortress, impregnable for predators; air enters through the ceiling.

Despite popular belief, beavers apply clay with their front paws, not their tail (their tail serves only as a rudder). Inside the hut there are manholes into the water and a platform rising above the water level. With the first frost, the beavers additionally insulate the huts with a new layer of clay.

In winter, a positive temperature remains in the huts, the water in the manholes does not freeze, and the beavers have the opportunity to go into the under-ice thickness of the reservoir. AT very coldy there is steam above the huts, which is a sign of habitability of housing. Sometimes in the same settlement of beavers there are both huts and burrows. Beavers are very clean, they never litter their homes with leftover food and excrement.

For construction and forage, beavers fell trees, gnaw them at the base, gnaw off branches, then divide the trunk into parts. A beaver fells an aspen with a diameter of 5-7 cm in 5 minutes; a tree with a diameter of 40 cm fells and butchers during the night, so that by morning only a skinned stump and a bunch of shavings remain at the place of work of the animal. The trunk of a tree gnawed by a beaver acquires a characteristic hourglass shape.

The beaver gnaws, rising on its hind legs and leaning on its tail. Its jaws act like a saw: in order to fell a tree, the beaver rests its upper incisors against its bark and begins to quickly move its lower jaw from side to side, making 5-6 movements per second. The beaver's incisors are self-sharpening: only their front side is covered with enamel, the back consists of less hard dentin. When a beaver gnaws on something, the dentin wears down faster than the enamel, so the front edge of the tooth stays sharp all the time.

Beavers eat part of the branches of a fallen tree on the spot, others are demolished and towed or floated along the water to their dwelling or to the construction site of the dam. Sometimes they dig channels in the shore, through which they float tree fodder. The length of the channel reaches hundreds of meters with a width of 40-50 cm and a depth of up to 1 m.

Active mainly at night.

Beavers are most active at night. But to call these animals completely nocturnal is perhaps not entirely true.

As a rule, beavers spend the day sleeping in a hut, burrow or secluded daytime lair, which we talked about above. In those places where beavers are not annoyed, they can be seen during the day. Adult animals are not averse to basking in the sun, usually they are males who are not busy caring for their young. It must be said that beavers are quite patient animals, and in those places where people do not particularly interfere in their lives, the period of activity of beavers can extend into the daytime. Thus, a very strict confinement of the daily activity of beavers to a certain time of day is not observed. It depends on the environment and partly on the time of year.

At other times of the year, the daily routine may vary slightly.

In winter, when water bodies are covered with ice, the animal spends more time in a hut or in a hole, leaving them only to bring food and empty its intestines. In some especially harsh winters When the reservoir freezes too deep, beavers have to deepen channels under the ice in order to approach food reserves.

In relatively mild winters, when the thermometer does not drop too low, and there are scours on the surface of the water from rapid flow, beavers can come to the surface, but not very far from the dwelling, trampling paths in the snow or digging tunnels in snowdrifts. Sometimes beavers gnaw through or break through thin ice to get to the surface.

In the spring, the beaver's troubles increase. Around March, with the onset warm weather beavers go out on the ice every day, with time the duration of sorties increases. At this time, in addition to traces of feeding, signs of the mating season can be found. Beavers, both males and females, begin to leave beaver stream marks in the snow, thereby attracting members of the opposite sex. Estrus and mating in beavers occur in late winter - early spring. Fights can occur between males at this time (even with bloodshed).

In the second half of spring, before beavers have offspring, young mature beavers leave the family in search of new habitats and brides. Males also leave winter dwellings for temporary summer shelters. Of the construction works, only minor repairs are carried out.

At the end of May, beavers reach a weight of 1–1.5 kg. They can already eat plant foods, but they are fed milk until they are two months old.

In the second half of summer, when the water level in the rivers drops, beavers start building dams and excavating new holes. More and more fallen trees are starting to come across.

Sometimes in the summer you can see wandering beavers, which are quite far removed from the water. The reasons for this phenomenon have not yet been fully elucidated. Very often, among such vagrants there are males and one-year-old beavers, who for unknown reasons are expelled from the colony. Adult females at this time are busy with cubs.

The end of summer - the beginning of autumn in the life of beavers is associated with the preparation of food for the winter, the repair of old and the construction of new burrows and huts.

An interesting pattern is observed in nature: the earlier beavers begin to prepare for winter, the earlier it comes. The cycle is complete.

If the beaver dived, loudly slapping its tail on the water, it means that it gave an alarm signal to its relatives.

The beaver is a cautious and at the same time curious animal. He emerges from a dwelling somewhere under the shore, without raising a single wave. He can see everything that is happening around; and only looking around, he swims on.

HUNTING FROM THE APPROACH

It was already getting dark when, having pushed through the thickets of bushes that stuck around the banks of a small swampy forest pond, I finally got to the water, overcoming 10 meters of fallen trees, old trunks and snags, behind which were hidden beaver holes. More than once I fell into them almost to the waist. Silence all around. But on the water, the greenish duckweed is cut everywhere by narrow paths. I stood like that for about 15 minutes, admiring the silence and beauty of nature. One of my legs stood on a pole gnawed by a beaver, and the other on a log 1.3 meters wide. From the feet to the water was half a meter.

Suddenly, under the very left foot, the water let in something without a splash, and I saw the broad black back of a beaver. He crawled out from under the very shore and immediately plunged into the water. Having swum under water a meter, emerged and quickly swam further. I was in a hurry. Then he quickly removed his MTs-20-01 gun from the safety catch, took aim and fired. The beaver plunged into the water, but did not stop the movement. I randomly fired again with a lead. The beaver is gone. It became quiet again. I was afraid to move, and for good reason. Five minutes later, to the left of the first exit, a smaller beaver crawled out. I didn't miss this. I took it in the water.

Sometimes a beaver can dive up to 30 meters from its dwelling somewhere to the side, leaving behind a trail of air bubbles released from its fur. Usually a cunning beaver hears that someone is trampling over his dwelling. But, sailing aside and looking around, not seeing the danger, he calms down and behaves as usual. In this case, it remains to wait patiently or quietly follow the beaver in the hope of seeing him. I advise you to wait 10-15 minutes and, if the beaver does not show up, follow him. There is a possibility that he is sitting on the bank around the bend and nibbling on a branch.

If the beaver dived, loudly slapping its tail on the water, it means that it gave an alarm signal to its relatives. As soon as the beaver disappears under water, you need to prepare for the shot. The beaver, of course, can swim away to safety, but the patient is lucky. It is necessary to keep the shutter speed and freeze. It is important to let the beaver calm down, wait for it to swim to the distance necessary for the shot. But if the beaver does not come out within 20-30 minutes, then it will not appear.

MY WEAPON

A few words about the weapon used by me on the beaver. This is an ordinary single-barreled gun MTs-20-01 with magazines for 2 cartridges, with a longitudinally sliding bolt. His fight is sharp, I use shot number 0. Barrel length 635 mm. In my opinion, such a simple, but fairly light and maneuverable weapon is well suited for hunting fur-bearing animals, wild boars and ducks. I would call it universal. The disadvantages of the MTs-20-01 include a small magazine capacity and, accordingly, a low rate of fire. Sometimes it matters. However, in the "pros" we will additionally write down its cheapness

TIPS

The beaver reacts to sudden movements, so the hunter must move smoothly and carefully. To find out the activity of beavers, you need to conduct reconnaissance several times, visiting "suspicious" places in different time days. I went to the reservoir after 14:00 and stayed there until dark. On the river, the beaver prefers to live in burrows on high banks that are not flooded during high water. In the place where beavers live, you can hear specific sounds or detect local cloudiness of the water near the shore. This beaver cleans the hole and removes excess soil into the water - hence the turbidity. However, the presence of signs of vital activity is not always accompanied by the appearance of beavers on the surface of the water. "Visible" activity in a beaver begins at about 6 pm and continues until the morning.

The young swim up first. Adults are more cautious and appear a little later. Before the sitting, I prepare the place facing the water, a little half-turned - it's more convenient to shoot - and wait. I always have a rechargeable flashlight and keep it close to me.

WHERE TO SHOOT?

Any animal has the most lethal places (after the head) - rib cage and the abdomen, where the vital organs are located. Although a hit in the spine will immobilize the beast. Aimed shooting at a beaver should be carried out from a distance that allows you to quickly get it out of the water or, conversely, prevent it from falling into the water if it was on the shore. I usually don't shoot beyond 20 meters.

Shot ammo is easier for me to buy than to equip myself, and bullet cartridges, as a rule, I equip myself.

At dusk, when the beavers come out, a three- or four-time optical sight helps a lot. When shooting at a distance of up to 10 meters, I use open sight. In my hunting area, beavers "graze" in areas with dense thickets of young birch and aspen. It makes no sense to shoot the beast sitting on the shore through this palisade. It is more effective to shoot a swimming beaver in the head at a distance of up to 10-15 m.

Shot beavers made me work hard more than once before they ended up in my hands. The fact is that some good old animals are so heavy (under 20 kg) that after a defeat they drown. Underyearlings and, in general, young beavers practically do not drown. But they are harder to get into.

The first 10-15 seconds after the shot, if the beaver does not drown, it begins to convulse. At the same time, he can dive under a snag, tree or blockage, and getting him out of there is almost impossible. Thus, a hit (hit by a shot) is immediately visually noticeable. If there are no signs of movement and the beaver itself is on the water, most likely you missed.

The beaver is also saved by a rather thick skin (up to 5 mm excluding fur). When it hits soft tissues, the shot is practically safe for him.

WHAT TO SHOOT?

Fraction #0 can be used here. Shot, like buckshot, scatters to the sides in proportion to the distance to the "target". Having “showered” a beaver from afar, you can easily make a wounded animal, and most likely it will leave. But even if such a beaver is obtained, the skin will certainly be spoiled by holes.

AMMUNITION

Beaver hunting does not require special frills: ordinary camouflage with a mandatory mosquito net on the head is enough - not only from mosquitoes, but also from forest ticks, which are a dime a dozen in early autumn.

You should dress for the weather, have spare socks and a sweater - the nights in September are already cold. I can’t do without high rubber boots with insulation inside in my area, since I have to go into the water. Other shoes are considered unsuitable. Although before approaching the pond, as a rule, I go in sneakers.

It has its own specific features that create certain difficulties for the hunter.

For most winter days frosts are characteristic, which directly affect the reservoirs where beavers live. As a result, an ice crust appears, sometimes reaching a very large thickness.

Many people have the misconception that beavers hibernate in winter, but this is not true at all. This animal continues to behave actively and comes to the surface from the water.

To be successful beaver hunting in winter, it is necessary to determine the places where the animal lives on this moment, because otherwise it is useless to go hunting.

There are a lot of beaver huts, but not every one will be visited by a beaver, so carefully examine the area first.

If the hut is visited, then steam will come out of the vents against the background of cold winter air, and there will be an accumulation of icing. In addition, beaver tracks can be seen in the snow.

How is beaver hunting in winter different from others?

There are several ways to get beaver in winter. Some of them are quite unique, which give this hunt a special specificity.

A large amount of energy and effort will be required for anyone who is going to hunt beaver on frosty winter days. Here you will need not only warm clothes, but also an ax that needs to cut through the ice in order to set a trap.

In addition, you will need to make efforts to make a wooden pole, find and install the bait. All this distinguishes this hunt from many others.

We hunt beavers in winter with traps

This method has its prevalence among lovers of hunting without a gun. Traps need to be able to properly set in the right place.

Frame traps are considered the most suitable. They do not require special processing, which is carried out to prepare for other hunts.

As a rule, they are installed on the routes of movement of the beaver under water or near the dam. Underwater roads can be identified by air bubbles in the water.

When everything is clear with the installation site of the trap, then the next step is to make a wooden pole, on which the trap itself will be attached.

First you need to make a hole with dimensions of about 50 cm in width and length. The placement of the trap should be approximately 1.5 meters from the top end of the pole, parallel to the bottom surface.

The pole itself is lowered into the water at an angle of forty-five degrees. At a height of 50 cm from the trap, it is recommended to tie a bunch of aspen, which will play the role of bait.

On a beaver in winter with a gun

Shooting a beaver with a gun is more humane than trapping it. In addition, the meat of the animal turns out to be tastier, and hunting is richer in impressions.

A special flair and amazing hearing complicate the hunter's task of preying on a beaver. So be patient and dress well, as you will have to wait for some time in the cold in complete silence.

Look for beaver huts and footprints in the snow so that you can make yourself an ambush nearby from which you will fire. As a rule, beavers can be seen in the snow in the evening, so try to arrive at the hunting place in advance.

It is preferable to do a sit-in on a small hill. This is due to the fact that the beaver has no enemies that can attack him from above, so he does not raise his head.

Do not forget that the wind should not blow from you. It is recommended to shoot at the beaver with buckshot or a bullet. Any foreign smell is unacceptable, so smoking and using perfume is prohibited.

Many poachers use rope loops to catch beaver, which are set under the ice. The end of the rope is tied to a log.