20 



BULLETIN 1078, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The beavers can be baited first in the water in front of the corral, 

 then closer, and soon inside. When the whole family or colonj^ have 

 formed the habit of coming into the corral the door can be set and 

 made ready for their capture. 



In most places green aspen bushes or branches make the best bait 

 and will soon bring the beavers regularly for their meals. If these 

 are not available the favorite local food can be used and will be 

 preferred by the beavers to that which is only to be had by going 

 back from the shore and cutting. 



Pitfalls. — Adult beavers may be caught in pitfalls sunk across the 

 regular trails where they drag their wood to the water (PL VI, Fig. 

 1). A hole 14 inches wide by 2 feet long should be dug across the 



Fig. 6. — Corral for capturing beavers alive. Either drop, swing, or sliding doors can be 

 arranged for closing tbe corral, but the drop door is the simplest where the beavers 

 are to close it themselves from within. Three wire loops and a straight stick for a 

 trigger provide a simple and effective means of springing the door. 



trail 6 or 7 feet deep and the excavation enlarged below to a diam- 

 eter of 3 or 4 feet. If a barrel or tin can is available it might 

 be sunk iii the ground in the trail for holding the beaver. If the 

 pit is in sandy or mellow ground the bottom and the sides up 2 or 3 

 feet must be protected with boards or tin to keep the beaver from 

 digging into the walls and filling up the pit in order to climb out. 

 The excavated earth from the pit should be carried away in pails 

 or sacks and the surface of the ground left in as natural and undis- 

 turbed a condition as possible. When all is completed, the tops of 

 bushes should be laid in from both sides of the trail to near the 

 middle of the mouth of the pit and the remainder covered with 

 slender sticks, over which leaves and grass are scattered so that the 

 hole does not show. The beavers may tumble in on the way to their 

 feeding grounds, but are more likely to do so on the return trip. 

 when occupied with carrying or dragging sticks to the water. Once 

 caught in the pit they are easily dipped up in a wire basket or in- 

 closed in a large sack slipped over their heads and bodies. 



