Rock Farm

  Beavers are one of the most interesting animals God ever created in my opinion. In the right areas they do more to enhance wildlife habitat than almost anything humans can do. In the wrong places they can be a real pest. I have done beaver control for over 20 years. I started when I was in school at Berry College in 1979 where my job in the winters was controlling the nuisance beavers on the schools 30,000 acre property. I have done beaver control part time almost every winter since then for private individuals, timber companies and businesses. I am a specialist and I only do beaver removal.

  Beavers are just beginning to become a problem in the North Florida area. In Georgia they have been flooding fields and roads for decades. Beginning next winter, 2007/2008 season, I will be available to do beaver control work in the North central Florida area, Including Putnam, Alachua and possibly surrounding counties.

  The first thing I will do when I meet with you is try to persuade you to change your mind. If you enjoy wildlife around then beavers are the best friends you have. When beavers move in and dam up a creek, wildlife rejoices. I have walked untold miles of woods and without exception I see more wildlife sign in and around beaver ponds than any other place. The ponds open up the habitat and create "edge" that is necessary for a number of species to flourish. Ducks and other birds are drawn to the ponds like magnets, as are deer, raccoons, mink, otters, and muskrats to name a few.

  Once ponds have been established for a few years you will have a good spot to do some fishing. I have caught more fish in beaver ponds than anywhere else I've ever fished. My wife Sue caught a 10lb Bass in a beaver pond near the Oostanalla river. I've caught bass, bream, catfish and carp in such numbers in beaver ponds I just don't understand how anyone who loves to fish would want to get rid of them.

  Beaver ponds also help to control mud and silt from getting into rivers and they aid in flood control. With all this going for beavers I suggest you think long and hard about removing them. There are a number of measures you can take to help minimize the damage they do and still keep them. Prize trees can be wrapped in wire and drains can be installed to help control the pond level. Check these options out before rushing to remove them.   

  If after considering all the benefits of having beavers around you still come to the decision that the damage they are doing is too much to allow, then removal may be your best option. There are getting to be more beavers in North Florida and they are continuing to slowly spread South and even if you remove the current group more may move in over time. This is especially true if you have a prime location for a dam near a major creek or river.

  I can usually remove the bulk of a colony in a couple of weeks. At about this time the remaining beavers will often do a "disappearing act" and no new sign of them will be seen for a few weeks. Then activity such as dam repair and tree felling will resume. Because of this I figure about a full month of off and on work to totally remove a colony. 

  Beavers living in lakes can be especially difficult to totally get rid of. This is because they have so many areas they can come ashore to get a meal. Totally removing a colony of nuisance beavers from a large lake can take a whole winter of sporadic work to get the job done. 

 I charge a one time $30 fee to come out and look over your situation. If I fail to persuade you to keep your beavers I will set traps to remove them. I then charge $30 per beaver caught. Except for the initial fee of $30, "If I don't catch them, you don't pay." Check out the fees that Pest Control companies are charging for beaver removal. Most are in the neighborhood of $100 per beaver plus an initial fee of $50.

  I do beaver control as a sideline in my spare time. I only do it during the winter (Dec 1st through February 28) and I only do control work in a limited area . If you are interested just give me a call at 352-481-7064 or send me an e-mail (our email address is found in the first paragraph of our Home Page).