I've heard the best way is dynamite.

Be carful, I know laws state that you may not trap within a certain distance of the openning of a beaver dam or muskrat house, so destroying 1 maybe be even worse. I also live in North Idaho. I would make sure to check with Fish & Game before moving forward with your project. Also make sure to check local trapping regulations. I have not trapped in years but I do know that the Fur Bearer trade is not even close to what it used to be. Hope this helps....I do understabd your frustration with North Idaho Mountain Beavers!!!

Dynamite does work very nicely!
I would check into local regulations though depending on how close you are to a population, I know that a lot of ranchers in my area have gotten into a lot of trouble for removing dams, and they were just using backhoes...

Step 1.) Remove beavers

Step 2.) Remove a piece of the dam, backoe or however

Step 3.) Repeat as neccessary

If you don't get rid of the beavers first, you're shoveling poo against the tide.

I would think you'll dull your chainsaw pretty darn quickly if you try to cut a section out. A chain is pretty cheap. You'd want to be really careful, though, Loose stick and all.

fish and game doesn't care if i remove the beaver dams or not. They did tell me that if i remove the dams and don't remove the beavers, the dams will be back. Makes perfect sense. Fish and game told me to find a trapper and have him trap there this winter and than remove the dams if i want. They don't care one way or the other.

I don't know if i care or not either. The beavers are kind of cool to see, but the area the creek runs thru has been flooded.

tim

Yep, F&G is right. Unless you get rid of the beavers, they will just build it back, almost overnight. They don't call them "eager beavers" for nuthin'.

The only problem you may face is that the factors that caused those beavers to show up will usualy attract more beavers. so be prepared for repeated battles.