Trappers aid in VNP beaver research, By LAUREL BEAGER, Editor

Studies intended to gather information about beaver have found that beaver travel great distances.
Voyageurs National Park staff have live-trapped and marked with metal ear tags more than 288 beaver since September 2006 as part of a multifaceted beaver research program in the park, according to Steve Windels, VNP biologist.
Area trappers have aided in the program by reporting information about the beaver and where they were harvested to the park.
Trappers who find beavers with ear tags are encouraged to report the location where the beaver was killed, the beaver's sex, and the tag numbers to Windels at Voyageurs National Park at 283-6692.
Each ear tag has a unique three-digit numbers on them and tags are about one half inch long. Trappers who find dead beavers this spring, particularly those floating in the water, are also encouraged to report this information as part of a study of disease prevalence in beavers in the Voyageurs National Park area.
Meanwhile, the studies will aid researchers in determining how changing the water level rules on Namakan reservoir in 2000 impacted wildlife, habitat and other uses of the area lakes. Windels and other people and agencies are now gathering data to help answer that question in 2015 when the International Joint Commission will assess the rule curve change.
Windels has been studying the behavior of beaver during the winter drawdown period.
The 1970 rule curve called for a more dramatic seasonal drawdown of Namakan Lake, he said. Because the water receded from the beaver lodges and therefore did not serve as a heat source for the lodge, beaver tended to spend more time outside the lodge, expending precious energy needed to survive winters. And, he notes, beaver also become prey to predators when not safely tucked, warm and cozy, inside the lodge.
Meanwhile, Windels reports that from April 14-25, Frank House, a fur trapper from Ray, trapped two beavers up to 23 river miles from the locations they were ear-tagged by park staff in Kabetogama Lake in 2007, according to Windels.
The first one was tag No, 676/677, a female trapped on the Blackduck River, about 328 feet north of where it crosses Sheep Ranch Road.
House described this beaver as being moderately thin, according to Windels. It had one hind leg that was significantly swelled up, as if it had been injured in a trap. House also reported that: one side of the beaver was “bit up” as if from another beaver, and that the tail had several bite marks in it, as if from a carnivore, likely a bear or wolf.
This beaver was initially trapped by VNP staff in Blind Ash Bay on Sept. 25, 2007, notes Windels. It was classified as a female and weighed 33 pounds. It was most likely a two-year old beaver.
The second one was tag No. 269/270, a female trapped on Ash River, nearly one half mile south of where it crosses U.S. Highway 53. House said this beaver was very fat, carrying more than three inches of fat, and was pregnant with three kits. It weighed 36 pounds, though Windels said he was unsure if this was skinned weight.
This beaver was initially trapped in Nebraska Bay on May 3, 2007, reported Windels. It was classified as a female weighed 23.7 pounds at that time. This beaver would be two-years old at the time of its death.
Windels was also contacted by Littlefork trapper Charlie Little May 1, reported that he had trapped one of VNP's tagged beavers outside the park.
This beaver was also a two-year old female, tag No. 488/486. It was trapped on April 19 on the East Branch of the Rat Root River.
“This one is especially intriguing because it was trapped near Cutover Island on Kab last fall,” Windels said. “To get to the lower Rat Root, it either had to cross over Gold Portage, go across Black Bay and then down the Rat Root River, or if it dispersed through the southern shore of Kab, it would have had to cross over a significant chunk of land to get there. This beaver was really an adventurer.”

To report:
Trappers: If beaver with ear tags are found, provide location, sex, and tag numbers to Steve Windels, VNP biologist, at 283-6692.