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farm land and cause flooding on acreage used for crops. “They have a knack for getting their dams right in the place where the farmer has to cross,” Kenyon added. Beavers also encounter difficulties with the Virginia Department of Highways. Occasionally, flooding washes over secondary roads.
Rappahannock Highway Department Superintendent Doug By waters reported that his men had to ero into a pipe and pull out debris on Route 638 outside Flint Hill because the road was continually flooding. “We’d tear it out one day and the next morning the beavers had built it halfway back up,” said Bywaters. “We had to come back three times before they got discouraged and quit.”
To control the beaver population explosion, the Virginia Game Commission allows a trapping season east of the Blue Ridge Mountains from December 15 through February 28, according to Game Commission Trapping Specialist Gerald Blank. In the late 1930’s, beavers were extinct in Virginia, said Blank. To restock, animals were brought in from other states. “West Virginia brought them in before we did so we got a gift in the border areas. Mr. Beaver just walked right on over the mountains into Virginia,” said Blank.
Beavers are usually welcome when they first take up residence. It’s only when the family begins to grow and increasing numbers of trees disappear that they’re considered a nuisance by property owners, said Blank. “A beaver lodge will cut enough brush to fill up a four ton truck just to get them through the winter. They’re not very conservative animals—they . usually put in too much.” Brush and trees are stored out in the water in front of the lodge. “Even if the ice freezes 20 inches thick,
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