# Who knew there were Beaver in N/W Arkansas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257 "2018-09-13T03:50:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/21 "2018-09-13T17:05:26Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I have seen Armadillos my whole life. Don’t they carry leprosy or something? > And beaver houses are called ‘dams’, they flood out creeks and ponds. Thats the problem when they are on private land. Around here farmers will blow the dams up. To encourage them to move on. Farmers mostly. Mr.Wrekker is not a farmer but he loves his creek. But, explosives are not his style. He doesnt want anyone to die, just relocate. More accurately, beaver houses are called lodges. The dams are built to raise water levels to protect their lodges and in colder environments to prevent ice blocking their lodge entrances. They don’t dam up water that is sufficiently deep. They should just trap them. They’re easy to trap and their fur is awesome. It’s soft and shiny and makes great garments. They can always sell the furs too if they want to make a bit of money. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/22 "2018-09-13T17:15:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I have seen Armadillos my whole life. Don’t they carry leprosy or something? > And beaver houses are called ‘dams’, they flood out creeks and ponds. Thats the problem when they are on private land. Around here farmers will blow the dams up. To encourage them to move on. Farmers mostly. Mr.Wrekker is not a farmer but he loves his creek. But, explosives are not his style. He doesnt want anyone to die, just relocate. But still, explosives would be cool. Do it when the beavers go out to lunch or something. Were armadillos eaten during the Depression, leprosy and all? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/23 "2018-09-13T17:35:24Z")
We even have a few beaver and the occasional otter in the Chicago river. They tend to stay away from the noisy areas but if you go North or South of the loop you’ll see signs of them. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/24 "2018-09-13T17:44:35Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Nice beaver! Thanks, I just had it stuffed. I got beavers on my state flag, beavers on my college teams, beavers everywhere. I even have one right outside. A year round stream with willows growing in it runs through my couple acres. The guy moves upstream to some ponds when water gets low during the dry season and moves back down once the wet starts, which is right about now. I kind of like him. He eats and clears the willows, keeping my gully clear, clears out the blackberries by eating the root balls they have, and helps capture new soil with his dams. The only time he has pissed me off was when he took my pear tree. And I mean took it. I had been nurturing it for several years and it was about 5 inches in diameter, until one day it was just gone and a one foot stump was left. No sign of the tree, no branches, no stems no seeds, it was all gone except for that stump. I don’t know what he did with it. He must have really liked the taste of pear wood. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/25 "2018-09-13T18:54:05Z")
Once I was walking near a canal in the middle of the night and heard heavy breathing near this little dock. I turned on the flash on my phone and found a dripping wet beaver, baring its huge front teeth. They actually are pretty scary looking up close, I backed away slowly, that damn thing freaked me the hell out. I don’t blame the beavers, we are encroaching on their habitats, but I didn’t realize just how aggressive and territorial they can be. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WibqDBcO2o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WibqDBcO2o) The persistence of the beaver in the video is quite illuminating [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE06cQ-7YVs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE06cQ-7YVs) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/26 "2018-09-13T19:00:56Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > The only time he has pissed me off was when he took my pear tree. And I mean took it. I had been nurturing it for several years and it was about 5 inches in diameter, until one day it was just gone and a one foot stump was left. No sign of the tree, no branches, no stems no seeds, it was all gone except for that stump. I don’t know what he did with it. > > He must have really liked the taste of pear wood. As much as I love animals, I’d probably be (illegally) hunting beaver after that. Relatives in Oklahoma have a nice little pool on their property where I would be growing water plants. A beaver ate a little willow tree. My Uncle seemed to not be angry about it. I would be truly hacked off. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/27 "2018-09-13T19:23:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > As much as I love animals, I’d probably be (illegally) hunting beaver after that. They’re not protected in many places, but most people trap them. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/28 "2018-09-13T19:39:03Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > They’re not protected in many places, but most people trap them. Hunting season in Arkansas: Sunrise, Sept. 1, 2018-Sunset, March 31, 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257/29 "2018-09-13T20:07:02Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > But still, explosives would be cool. Do it when the beavers go out to lunch or something. > > Were armadillos eaten during the Depression, leprosy and all? I know possums were eaten. Armadillos are hard to shoot. They roll up and the armor is hard. You have to have a long gun, unless you can’t hit the head before it goes into survival mode. Beaver lodges are under their dams, in my understanding. I am not knocking on their little door to see what level they are habitating, though. Mr.Wrekker has torn many apart trying to move them on. He’s seen into them and tells me they live under the water level, dry and cozy. Home sweet home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-there-were-beaver-in-n-w-arkansas/821257.md?page=1)