How to Deter Beaver Mischief with Beaver Exclusion Fencing

If beaver dams are eating your trees, flooding your property, or blocking your culvert, beaver exclusion fencing might be right for you.

Getting Rid of Beavers

Now beaver populations are rebounding, and they’re finding roads and buildings in the historic floodplains of their ancestral habitat.

One known, effective way to control beavers is to hire a beaver trapping service. But this is just a temporary fix. New beavers will eventually re-populate your habitat.

Beaver Exclusion Fencing

Beaver exclusion fencing is basically installing metal mesh or fencing material around an area to deter beaver activity there.

Beavers are not strong climbers. So any fence taller than 4′ will block them from the excluded area.

For some folks with smaller properties, or limited waterfront area, simply putting up a four foot high fence around their property or waterfront could effectively exclude beavers.

How to Prevent Beavers From Eating Trees

Beaver exclusion fencing can prevent beavers from chewing your trees.

Wrap all high-value landscaping and forest trees with 1/2″ mesh hardware cloth to deter beavers from eating the trees. 

Alternately, you can make a circular fence around the trees with deer fencing, secured with T-posts to achieve a more intentional aesthetic.

Beaver Proofing a Culvert

For beavers plugging up your road culvert with damming materials, beaver exclusion fencing works great.

Use 4×4″ mesh cattle panels to create a long trapezoidal shaped fence upstream of the culvert. Sometimes refered to as a “keystone culvert fence,” the trapezoidal shape disperses the energy of flowing water if the beavers dam along the sides. With lessened noise of rushing water, beavers are naturally deterred from damming on the culvert exclusion fencing. 

Beaver Pond Leveler

If you have propertythat’s flooding from a beaver pond, a beaver pond leveler or “flexible pond leveler,” could be the perfect solution. 

Clemson Pond Leveler

Beaver Dam Leveler

All beaver dam “pond levelers” are fairly simple devices. They simply move water from the beaver pond upstream of the dam, to below the dam to control the pond’s water level.

To install a beaver pond leveler, the beaver dam must be breached to the desired height. Then a pipe of approximately 40′ in length is outfitted with a large intake filter that prevents the beaver from feeling the flow of water into the pipe. Then the intake filter is floated out into the pond and sunk into the pond.

If it works, it will move water past the dam undetected by the beavers, controlling the height of the pond.

Portland Beaver Control

Although beavers can be pesky, they are a critical part of our ecosystem. That’s why Pest & Pollinator is proud to offer beaver exclusion services where appropriate.

In fact, beaver conservation is so important for wetland biodiversity. We may even be able to help you secure grant funding for your beaver conservation project.

If beaver ponds are causing flooding or damming culverts, please don’t hesistate to call or email us today.