We just bought a home in SW Virginia. We have a beaver (we think) gnawing on the bark of an apple tree. We had one apple, see pic. Any idea what kind it is? And any advice on keeping the beaver from eating the bark. I assume the tree will recover, now that we have put up a fence that we hope keeps him away.
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Yes; anchor a roll of hardware cloth around the tree trunk. A beaver can kill the tree quickly.
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Beaver stew.
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they love apple wood. like candy to them.
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I did just that yesterday. Hopefully it will keep him away. I thought I saw him, but some say its really a ground hog. Looks like a beaver but with a shorter tail??
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Any ideas on what kind of apple this is?
Not sure on the apple variety.
But these are beavers..
From my old trapping picture album.
Those were nice sized ones caught from a local lake.
The teeth marks on your tree look consistent with beaver to me and may be a large beaver considering how high up it is reaching.
That small stream in the background is something beavers would search looking for food sources… and good places to dam up the creek.
If it leads to or from a larger stream, river, lake.. you will most likely have a steady supply of beavers investigating your small branch yearly.
A good stout fence definately recommended. Beavers are like tanks.. they are stout and tuf and determined.
Good luck.
TNHunter
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I will point out that the invasive Nutria also habitat water features and adore girlding fruit trees.
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I did see it yesterday briefly, and that is exactly what it looked like. Sounds like I need to add a beaver pelt to my collection. I really want to save that apple tree.
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I saw trails going in and out of the creek bank. If he needs building materials, there are a lot of other usable smaller trunked trees around. He can have those.
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