Busting a Beaver Dam and Draining the Pond
We have many beaver ponds on our property but this recently built one is threatening our septic system and this particular pond needs to go or at least be reduced. I break the dam and reduce the water level then install three pipes to keep the water level down. The pipes are 4" diameter PVC 20' long. I hammered metal posts into the bottom of the pond and wired the pipes to the posts so they stay in place.
Over the winter we had a couple of beavers removed but there is at least one left (probably more - it is a big lodge). The beavers will continue to repair the dam after it is broken but the pipes seem to trick them. They try and clog the pipes but they are off the bottom of the pond and staggered and their attempts aren’t effective. The pipes are also perforated which is an added puzzle for the beavers.
We are happy with this reduced water level. The remaining beavers are welcome to stay or go.
Be careful when breaking a beaver dam. Depending on your jurisdiction you are likely liable for any flood damage you cause. In our case the water just dumps into the forest and there are numerous beaver ponds to absorb the flow of water before anything important (like the highway).
This isn't my usual theme of video but perhaps this will help someone else in this situation.
My Amazon Stores
USA www.amazon.com/shop/kevinoutd...
Canada www.amazon.ca/shop/kevinoutdoors
Where you can find lots of the gear that I use.
Follow Me…
Facebook: / kevinoutdoors1
Instagram: instagram.com/kevin_outdo...
Any opinions expressed in this video are mine and mine alone and are not related to my employer or any other organization or individual. I have not been paid to make this video or to endorse a product. If I am ever paid for an endorsement or provided other compensation I will state it clearly in the video. Any advice or demonstration I provide is just advice. The viewer should take responsibility for their own actions, follow any manufacturers warnings and directions and act safely and responsibly when travelling in the backcountry.
Wow this video has taken off since about October 14 2017. My little channel that normally gets ~1000 views per day is suddenly getting +4000 mostly due to this video. Just wondering where people are watching this - has it been shared on a particularly popular discussion forum or Facebook page? Please let me know. Thanks!
Tannerite. Mix up a 5 gallon bucket worth, bury it in the edge of the dam, get to a safe distance and shoot it with a rifle and BOOM! big hole in the dam. Mix a smaller charge for the beaver lodge..
Thanks Kent - That is a new one for me.
No problem. That stuff is legal in all 50 states. Tins if videos on KZhead of people doing just that with it. Heck of alot easier than a rake... Lol. Have a good one and be safe.
I've checked out a few videos... It also appears to be available on Cabellas.ca (Canada). I don't know if I have the distance for a shot at my dam but it is an interesting option that I didn't know of before.
I shot it from 70 yards before. Could always do 10 - 11 lbs multiple shots
Kevin every morning: I'm so impressed by how much re-building these beavers do every night. Beavers every evening:. We're so impressed by how much destruction this guy does every day.
Hahahaha so funny
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Beaver: human is the most awful pest you can have for your dam
Lol
hhahahahahahhaha
Them beavers came back off vacation like “yo wtf”
😄😄
😆 😆
They were probably still in hibernation, and all that rushing water probably woke them up. Poor bastards!
🤣🤣🤣
this is great material for a cartoon movie from the beaver's perspective.
Right? This would’ve been an excellent looney tunes cartoon. Lol
a little trick from someone who learned . Beaver do dam the ends of the pipes and they are getting better at it with time . I solved the problems by drilling some 1 inch holes along each side of the pipes at every 6 inches for about 12 feet and trust me the beavers havent figured out why the water continues to flow even if they dam the ends of the pipes
I thought he did that already when he 1st showed the pipes by the middle pipe looks like it has holes drilled into it.
Ummm... he DID have holes along the pipe. Time for new glasses.
ho yeah sorry the definition of the video is very poor
Putting a 90 degree elbow with a short piece of pipe and tur the elbows down towards the bottom of the pond works also. This prevents the beaver from detecting the running water.
This is a good idea.
They rebuilt ? Almost like they don’t give a dam ;D
With 3 million views I have heard a lot of beaver jokes and puns. With that one you are in the lead!
Ha! I see what you did there
@@KevinOutdoors collaboration with Post 10 when?
Haha. But technically, they give too many dams...
Wakka wakka
Beavers are amazing engineers. Glad you have other ponds for them.
I think the Beavers actually enjoy repairing their dams. They just love building.
I don't know anything about beavers, but they seem smart. They knew to block the pipes which is amazing
I don't know how smart they are as they are really just rodents but they certainly have instincts that appear really clever to us. I once saw a documentary where a researcher put out a radio that played the sound of running water. Overnight the beavers covered it with mud and sticks to stop the "flowing water".
Kevin Outdoors 😂😂😂
@@KevinOutdoors - cleaver?
Kevin Outdoors thats pretty fucking funny
@@MrJx4000 it was Nat Geo's Leave it to the Beavers episode
I used to do this for a living. So satisfying when it finally breaks through. At the same time I have enormous respect for these animals that are such amazing engineers!
You are a Good Man. It is really nice that you are working with the Beavers natural instinct and allowing them to occupy your property. A lot of people would get rid of these Beavers by Trapping or some other way of exterminating them. A Beaver pond creates an ecosystem that benefits a lot of other Wildlife and something that you and your family can enjoy.
Agreed! Thanks for the comment!
Of course, draining the beaver pond and allowing that area to regrow its native trees and shrubs will allow the animals that originally occupied it to come back and rebuild the native ecosystem that nature intended for that area.
@@rustinstardust2094 The beavers will move to another location once they run out of food that is close. Then the dam will eventually erode and new trees,bushes,grasses and other fauna will come back. Followed by animals. It is a cycle that keeps repeating itself. Not all beavers make dams. Some dig into the banks of rivers and make their homes there.
@@rustinstardust2094 I must add, beavers are part of nature. They play a role in the environment. Once the Beavers abandon their dam. When the water is drained. All the silt collected by the pond the beavers created is very fertile. When they make a dam. It doesn’t affect wildlife that much. All the water grasses are eaten by hoofed animals. Woodpeckers will choose a dead tree to peck out a nest over a live tree. I’m not saying beavers should never be trapped. When they become a nuisance,they need to be culled. Either by Wild Cats,Coyotes,Bears or Wolves if they exist there. As soon as humans get involved. We disrupt the ecosystem causing it to become out of balance or completely collapse. Every living thing has the same right to live as humans. We must provide large areas for animal to exist without being disturbed by human activity. Humanity as a whole acts like we own the Earth.
@@mdlanor5414 Well, we are just animals in the ecosystem, too.
Wow! I never knew beavers were so clever. Can’t believe they figured out how to clog the pipes up.
Plot twist: the Beaver’s is just the last name of his neighbors who mess with him at night
funniest thing i've read all day LOOOOOOOOOOL
"i brought my rifle"
😂
All this talk of beavers is just making me snicker uncontrollably and remember Leslie Neilsen.
"I just had it stuffed..." :)
The size of some of those pieces of wood is amazing; those are some muscular beavers. Also amazing is the fact that they are smart enough to try to plug the ends of the pipes. Strong and smart......
Congrats on your victory against the beavers!
Thanks for the visit
Damn those beaver's work harder than some people I know !
Got to give it to those beavers, they sure do know how to make a dam and fix it as well. Seeing them even trying to plug the pipes is mighty impressive xD
It would of been epic to set up a camera so we could see the beavers at work
I now have some trail cameras and will be doing that soon.
@@KevinOutdoors Please!
White Rose - would HAVE been
White Rose.... go to youporn. They have beavers working hard in all shapes sizes and colors
@James D Who elected you the grammar police? I understood him. How he writes and/or types is his business .
Kevin i must admit i admire your persistence and their persistence. You need to use an excavator. Make it easy on yourself. Bravo from Victoria Australia
An excavator would be great but would be very difficult to get into this area. All the access is on the side of the pond opposite the dam.
Am I the only one who expected him to drive a digger in after the intro? Instead, guy cracks on with a rake... legend.
Its amazing to think such a small creature can TERRAFORM so effectively!
It really is. They just go on instinct and can't stand the sound of running water and need to dam it up.
Yak that’s just what I was sitting here thinking. It’s incredible, never really bought about it before. I mean, this goes quite a bit further than just building a nest or digging a burrow
@@marcusgrimes726 You're just as much an accident of evolution as they are. Think about that while you're at it.
@@francisdrake6622 , evolution is a scam and YAHWEH EL ELOHIM does not create "accidents". He builds things with a purpose.
@@paxhumana2015 Not impossible, but unlikely. If Yahweh exists, he gave us the capacity for rational thought. He also gave us the capacity for faith. The choice is the devotion to Yahweh.
Awesome compromise! This way they still get their pond, but there's a safety valve in place to protect the part of the area you use.
One word.... Tannerite!!!! Works every time..
Appreciate your reluctance to do it, and your acceptance of the other beaver ponds on your property.
Thanks, we like having beavers but this pond was just too close to the house and the septic system. It had to be done.
I'm very impressed with the beavers' work
Ward, I think you were a little hard on the beaver
Classic Joke. Only certain people will know.
So was eddie haskell, wally and ms cleaver
Best comment.
Cmon Rabbit! Get Him! 👀
June, I thought you liked it that way!
I cant believe youve done this! We were very carefull about youre septic System!
LOL
I heard you on the top ten most wanted beaver's list. Watch your back they are after you.
Good thing they don't have internet.
Thank you for not including music. Out of curiosity, if you just cleaned up the area of fallen branches and bush, would this minimize the problem with beaver damns? Those pipes are an Excellent idea and far less labour intensive of trying to open up the entire damn when the water is high. Excellent Thinking!
*Damn* those beavers! They are some damn hard workers!!
Those are some dam good beavers.
They sure are good beavers!
@Kevin Outdoors I just had to use dam in place of damn. I really enjoyed browsing your channel. Keep up the good work.
Nice that you are doing it in pretty good way,, and not causing direct harm to them, beaver will slowly build new home somewhere else
We can only hope.
Glad that you tried to find a solution to let them keep living there as well as protect your own home.
Thanks!
It's just incredible how beavers can even bring water to the desert. Such amazing feats of engineering!! Thanks for working with the beavers instead of just killing them....mind you, you kill one...it will be replaced with another..... so it's futile to just kill them. Working with them is much more clever!!
Killing them works. Beavers were protected at one time because they were hunted like crazy. They still are protected in many places across the US. Now look where that's gotten us...flooded low lands and property made useless by the out-of-control flooding the overpopulated beavers create. Sometimes, critters gotta be killed
Really cool video!
All I can think of is how nice that would be for fishing. But it’s your property and you gotta do what you gotta do.
Thanks Nam, I have other ponds for that and unfortunately there are no fish in this one.
3400 beavers disliked this video!!!
LOL, I think they are now stealing my wifi! 😀
Probably because they couldn't hear half of it.
JUSTINE BEAVER They may have thought😳🤷♂️ 😆
@@KevinOutdoors I was going to say 3.9K envirowacky/PETA type communists are against a landowner managing their own property.
nga nga
Great job. But you'll need beaver boxes (screens that keep beavers from plugging the intake ends of your pipes) to make it a more permanent solution.
That was super cool, great video!
Glad you liked it!
Great idea with the pipes!
Thanks!
It's called a "beaver deceiver" and it's definitely not his idea.
The best way to control beavers is to dig a channel through the dam. Then place a perforated metal culvert in the channel extending maybe 20 feet in front and behind the dam. The beavers cannot hear the running water and will not try to plug up the culvert !! Try it, it works great !!
Isn't that what this guy did? Does it matter if it's plastic or metal? Seems like plastic would last a lot longer. Metal rusts away..........
@@Odessa45 No, the point isn't metal vs pvc, the point is that if you extend it far enough they won't hear the sound of water flowing through their dam. They'd be able to plug it up but they wouldn't bother because it's not close enough to their home.
This was interesting. Crazy how good beavers are at making dams!
They are! And I don't think people get the perspective of how big this thing actually is. I have another one on my property that blew out naturally and I will have to do a video about it.
I've seen big tracked excavators used to remove dams smaller than this. Hats off to Kevin!
Thanks, the trick is to let the water to all the work.
Wow, the shit you have to put up with! It's amazing the ingenuity of these beavers!!
The best way to eliminate the beavers, is to do the damage you did and leave it alone until nightfall. Wait on them. After dark, they will return to fix the damage. They aren't put off by lights for some reason, so that is the time to pick them off. As for the dam itself (I have heard) that a few pounds of smokeless powder in a sealed PVC tube and shot with a tracer round will vaporize the wood, leaving the mud behind it. Breach that and let the water take it all downstream. I've not had an issue since (so I've heard).
@Reel-Lentless When I say "I heard" I was making a definitive statement. It made match sticks out of the dam, and it was set off successfully with a tracer round from a .308. It worked VERY well.
I’m in Louisiana Kevin.... it’s pouring down rain today so I took the day off. While cruising through some videos I came across yours, and was thinking about the battle between man and nature! Ultimately man usually prevails, but those critters sure are smart, and don’t make it easy, do they?! Great video and thanks for posting...
Thanks Brett!
good job beaver , build more plz ,
Beaver's are such incredible architects. Then can easily build a dam in the strongest of currents. And they are very resilient. My dad and I had to tear apart a Beaver dam to prevent the water from rising and destroying our road back at the cottage, and then when we woke up the very next day, the Beavers had built a brand new dam in the exact same spot.
All beavers just said "Oh no! Dam!"
Beavers are so clever.
They sure are.
Thanks for not evicting the Mighty Beaver Engineer 👷LOL
Really nice video
Man must live in harmony with beaver.
Watched a number of dam busting videos. All were using motorized equipment. I'm really impressed what you were able to accomplish by hand. With this improvement, the water level will be in check. Great work. Watch out for those pesky beavers!!!!!
Thanks Charles. Working well so far.
Way to go Kevin! Great job!
Thumbs up from Ireland. Looks like a beautiful piece of country. Would love to live there.
Thanks Sean!
You should put a hydropower setup at the end of those pipes and get yourself some free electricity!
Wow that was a big project! Nice work KO! The time lapse was well done.
Thanks Winter! Now that we are into late fall it seems to have worked well.
I’m a new subscriber watching from Honolulu Hawaii
Thanks so much!
What amazing animals!! and such soft fur!!
Those Beavers are industrious little bastards, and in tune with water flow. Nothing like that here in Australia. Aware of them but not, till now, the problems they can cause. Nice block yer got there. Thanks for sharing. Good luck mate!!
Thanks Don, Nice to get a view and a comment from the other side of the world!
I wished you luck, but unfortunately I was three years late!
be careful to much at once and all your hopes and dream could be washed away! I love the fact that you just did enough solve the problems, rather than, evicting the the beaver entirely.
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing!
Great job
Thanks
I wish there were beavers in Australia, they could help drought effected areas
Panic Farm hey you get the platypus and u will like it
They could make it worse in some cases
Come get some bevers
Good job Kevin!!!
Thanks. That was a month or more ago and the beavers have been busy trying to fix the hole in the dam. But the pipes are still working!!! I may have to revisit the beaver dam with another video - lots of intersting stuff going on back there as the vegatation is comming back.
I have property in east central MN just south of Duluth. Every year I keep a eye out for Beaver's starting a new dam on my land. While I like Beaver's as a Land owner they can really cause a lot of damage on a property. I use a similar process except I wait in the evening by the breach with a Shotgun. It's effective but not something everyone would be ready to do. There are a couple of large ponds nearby that have established Lodges and every couple years the young adults go out to establish territories.
Good luck Cleon Main.
Good for you! That is the best tool in the world for a beaver dam. I think they were originally made for beaver dams. heheheh
I think so too!
Putting pipes in the damn is such a simple and effective idea.
Thanks, I thought so! 🙂
In the damn? Bwahaha!
@@jimsimmons7863 damn dam
"I broke the dam." - Cartman
Those beavers are incredible Engineers by nature. If you could only train them to build dams where you want them. Hahaha
I'm in the Northern Nevada Desert. Can we release a few beavers? I'm sure they'd find water somewhere, and next thing you know we have ponds everywhere.
Kevin : `My property` , Beavers: `...`
Watching this at 07:00 hour's, relaxing too see how much chaos a beaver can do too it's environment.
They can really change an environment. I think I need to do a video on our much larger beaver pond.
Next time you need to do this consider this option. Buy a 6 inch flexible hose. Siphon the pond. Rent a digger for the day. Job done.
Good options, I would have a lot of trouble getting a digger into this location.
Post 10 would be proud of you :D
I checked him out. Very cool channel!
That was very interesting to watch buddy. They're reintroducing them where I live at the moment.
LMAO ... reintroducing beavers? How's that working out?
Beaver: "DAM IT!!!!!!!!"
Post 10 would love this.
I have just discovered his channel by comments like this.
Kevin; on your drain pipes drill multiple 1 inch or larger holes. They can't plug 'em all. Kinda like the opposite of your leach field. Amazing creatures, those Beavers!!!!!
Thanks Buckley, the pipes on the pond side do have holes pre-drilled into them. One reason I think this keeps working.
I had myself a nice piece of Korean beaver last night.
They're probably watching him, going "DAFUQ DUDE! This guy is crazy!"
Nice work. I'm faced with the same problem, although on a smaller scale. I initially took apart the small dam on our slough but they rebuilt it again. For now I'm gonna just watch and make sure that the water level doesn't get too high... If they don't go too crazy, I'll let them be. But I like you're idea of installing drain pipes. As luck would have it, I have some old ABS drain pipes ready to go. Thanks for the fun.
Hi Jeff, We had a similar experience as you. The beavers moved in during our vacation when the dog was away from the property. At first it was a small pond but over time they raised the dam and expanded the pond. Originally I thought they would keep the water level relatively constant given they have a lodge with a fixed floor and ceiling height inside. But no, they raised the water substantially. They must alter the inside of the lodge?? I would do the pipes again but probably add elbows on the intake end to confuse them more. I staggered the ends which I think is critical if you don't have elbows. Good luck.
Thanks friend.
Very impressive!
You can find amazing walking sticks near beaver dams
It would go away a lot faster with a box of dynamite.
The 4k dislikes came from the beaver family.
Probably, they are a tight group! :)
We love nature, but we have to survive too
How many beavers does it take to do this, and how many are in a “colony”
I stand in solidarity with the beavers.
Good job buddy 👍
Good job 👍🏻👍🏻
Kevin:. Ok let's get started Me:. Is he using a bobcat or excavator or dynamite? Oh. He's doing this by hand, bold move cotton, nice
yo for real. I was flabbergasted
The only improvement to your video would be you wearing a beaver fur hat for the updates
Lmao
Amazing the work of those busy beavers! Crazy
I am always impressed by what they can do.
Cool videos! Keep up the good work👍😁
Thanks Jinx!
The Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba Canada, to this day still has a bounty on beavers, a whole $5.00! lol
Is that beavers or nutria
Beavers have OCD it’s driving them crazy lol
Completely manic🤣
Completely manic
Beavers are so strong and when they work, THEY WORK HARD !! AMAZING Job. You can watch how they put them sticks on, they put them in wau that everythings comming down will put on itself and damb itself out in time, thats aamazing,
Kris, glad you picked up on that. Many comments don't seem to appreciate how much effort they go to. The dam is filled with rocks, logs and mud. A bunch of humans with hand tools couldn't work as efficiently!