Beavers

December 30, 2017

We recently moved to a new house located on a small lake.  The lake is beautiful, but came equipped with its own beaver.   The beaver promptly devoured the new trees we planted before we wizened up to wrapping the saplings in chicken wire.   After that the beaver left us alone for nearly a year.  He returned this last week and began gnawing on a mature Osage orange tree nearly two feet in diameter - see picture.   The tree was stripped of bark about 3/4 of the way around.  Should I do something to keep it from dying, like paint the raw wood to protect it from insects?  I since wrapped it in chicken wire. 
 

Unfortunately tree paints or wound dressings will not do much to help the tree and will also not hinder the beaver.  I would suggest making loose cages around all your trees to prevent future damage.  I can tell by the rolled edge along one of the wounds that this is not the Osage orange’s first attack either.  Clean up the wound by removing any frayed edges and then hope for the best.  Preventing more damage is the only thing you can do now.

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