How To Protect My Trees From Beavers In Vermont

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How to protect my trees from beavers in Vermont | Beaver

Vermont > Animal is plugging drains, pipes and ditches > Beaver

How to protect my trees from beavers

Beavers will damage trees as far as 100- 300 feet from the water. The following actions may help protect your trees from beavers:

• Spray the lower trunk of the trees up to a height of approximately 3-5 feet with taste repellents available at hardware stores or online. These may provide temporary protection.
• In areas where people have a relatively small number of trees in need of protection and where fencing or caging may not be desirable due to aesthetics or remoteness, the use of abrasive tree paint has proven effective at preventing beaver damage (recipe borrowed from Beaver Solutions, LLC at beaversolutions.com). Abrasive tree paint is mixed and applied as follows:

  Ingredients

  • Paint: Exterior Latex (choose a color to match the bark)
  • Mason Sand: 30 mil-70 mil

  Formula:

  • Mix 5 oz sand per quart of paint, or
  • Mix 20 oz sand per gallon of paint, or
  • Mix 140 gm sand per liter of paint

  Procedure: Make in small batches at a time on the day you are going to apply it. Using too much sand will cause the mixture to roll off the tree. Apply paint to bottom three to four feet of tree trunk (2 feet above snow). You do not need to reapply for several years. Consider leaving some trees unpainted for beaver food.

• This formula may not work for saplings. A longer term solution is to encircle your trees with sturdy wire fencing.
• Be sure to use fencing at least 4 feet tall, made of heavy gauge steel wire and openings no larger than 2 by 4 inches.
• Wrap fencing around the tree, and secure the two ends creating a free-standing cylinder of mesh.
• Leave 6-12 inches of space between the tree and the wire.
• Make sure the fence is flush with the ground at the bottom.

State specific info - Vermont - Beaver

Because beaver create such valuable wildlife habitat, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife has a long-standing program to provide technical assistance to landowners and municipalities to help resolve beaver/human conflicts. This assistance might include the installation of water control structures, protective fences, and advice on beaver population control if necessary. Other organizations and individuals may offer the same types of assistance. For more information see the VFWD publication "Best Management Practices for Resolving Human/Beaver Conflicts".

Best Management Practices for Resolving Human-Beaver Conflicts in Vermont6.89 MB

Laws and regulations to be aware of

Regulations for Vermont Furbearing animals doing damage In Vermont, landowners can legally protect their property from damage caused by rabbits and furbearing animals through lethal means. Anyone receiving compensation for trapping furbearers doing damage must hold a valid Vermont trapping license.

While we attempt to provide guidance about state and federal regulations pertaining to specific species and control techniques, we do not provide information about local jurisdictions (city, town, county, etc.) where regulations may be more restrictive, especially as it applies to discharge of firearms, transport of animals or use of trapping equipment. Contact your local city or county government to inquire further. No guarantee is made that information (or lack of information) associated with a species or control technique is completely accurate or current. You should become familiar with federal, state and local laws before beginning any wildlife control activities.

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Presented by these government wildlife management agencies as a trusted source for sound, legal and responsible wildlife control and damage prevention advice

In Vermont, WildlifeHelp.org is supported by the Wildlife Management Institute, the Northeast Wildlife Damage Management Cooperative, the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife

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