Okay, so we’re still in Texas with our good friend Terry Tate and tonight we’re after a rodent.
But its not your average rat or rabbit or even a porcupine.
Tonight its something a little bit more destructive isn’t that right Terry. It is.
We have a big beaver in the tank that’s destroying our tank dams.
They burrow holes in them and they’ll drain your tank eventually.
So what are these tanks that you’ve got on the property, saw quite a few of them earlier on.
Their livestock tanks, they’re earthen tanks that we dig with bulldozers for livestock.
So they’re artificial dams that have been dug to create water for livestock? Yes.
And so the beaver when they get in there what is it they do?
Well they’ll feed on the trees around it until they run out of trees and then they’ll burrow up into the dam dig holes.
Channel the water where he’ll run through to the next tank and create a waterway where they can go from one tank to the next.
So you tend to have quite a few beavers here, where do they come from?
I really don’t know where they come from, they’ve been here for as long as I’ve been here, and its just accelerating.We have more now than we ever had.
So how is it you tend to stay on top of them? You try to shoot them out. Right okay.And if you don’t you call the government trapper and he’ll come in and trap them out for you.
So we have got this here, Daystate Wolverine .303 Big Boar Air Rifle.
Do you think it’s going to be man enough to cope with your beaver? I think it's going to be great.Okay, perfect.
This rifle has taken out some pretty big game before. It’s taken wild boar, feral hogs, some particularly vicious rabbits in Texas as you’ll remember.
And obviously now we’re going to go after rodents of a slightly different kind.
Well hopefully it’s going to be up to the task. And In the meantime we’ve got a little bit of work to do to go and get spotting it.
So what sort of time do they come out of an evening?
Usually about dark and they’ll work all night on either cutting a tree down, digging holes, fixing dams.
We’ll see if we kind of find them. Okay well fingers crossed.
Im just nearly here now with my Daystate Wolverine and NiteSite NS200. I think we are now officially ready to go.
So lead on.
So we’ve seen a couple of beaver in the pond here, but it looks like we spooked them.
So what we’re gonna do is just head back give them fifteen, twenty minutes just relax a bit.They were swimming quite happily in the pond out here.
Then we’re gonna come back and see if we can get a shot at them.
He’s done.
Okay, jeez that's way over there.
So he is one enormous beaver.
Now he probably weighs what would you say Terry? Thirty-five pounds? Probably thirty-five.
Now I’ve shot smaller feral hogs than this bad boy.
Now he’s taken two shots in the head.
Now the first one looks like it was a little bit far forward.
And although, the second one, the one that kind of finished him off, on the far bank as you can see went straight through behind the eye and that’s what sent him over.
But that’s an impressive animal.
But you can see form the claws, the back of his feet here, huge claws and also these ones at the front you can see exactly what’s causing all the damage on the banks.
Now there was two in here, and as you say you went down and started paddling the water and then before you know it, he’s up and he’s in the water.
And he’s wanting to know who’s swimming in his pool is that right?
That’s it, he thought another beaver invaded his territory.Fiercely territorial.
So do we eat beaver Terry?
A lot of people eat beaver, the Indians used to live off them.
Yeah a lot of meat this is fat. He’s very very fat. There’s a lot you can feel a lot of fatty tissue in there as well.
Okay good stuff.
So one beaver down probably come back and to another tomorrow.
Good stuff.
Jesus that thing is heavy.