Beavers - Beaver trapping and removal in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia

Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services provides nuisance beaver removal services to
the following areas of Virginia - Albemarle, Goochland, Orange, Fluvanna, Powhatan, Louisa,
Henrico, and Hanover Counties as well as the Cities of Charlottesville and Richmond, and Mineral,
Gordonsville, Earlysville, Keswick.

The beaver (Castor Canadensis) causes a tremendous amount of damage in Virginia through their
dam building and tree cutting activities. They can impede or affect the structural integrity of roads,
railroad trestles, and manmade waterways. Beavers are hosts to several ectoparasites and internal
parasites including, nematodes, trematodes, and coccidians. Giardia lamblia is a pathogenic
intestinal parasite that causes human giardiasis.

Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services specializes in nuisance beaver removal and
beaver management, utilizing the most up-to-date equipment and techniques to safely and
humanely remove nuisance beavers. Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services has
experience dealing with nuisance beavers in rural, suburban, and urban environments and
understands the unique circumstances that each type of environment poses. Virginia
Professional Wildlife Removal Services provides nuisance beaver removal and management
services to individuals, businesses, property managers, homeowners associations, timber
companies, and municipalities. Call us today and let us help you.

Description of Damage

The habitat modification by beavers, caused primarily by dam building, is often beneficial to fish,
furbearers, reptiles, amphibians, waterfowl, and shorebirds. However, when this modification
comes in conflict with human objectives, the impact of damage may far outweigh the benefits.

Most of the damage caused by beavers is a result of dam building, bank burrowing, tree cutting, or
flooding. Some southeastern states where beaver damage is extensive have estimated the cost at
$3 million to $5 million dollars annually for timber loss; crop losses; roads, dwellings, and flooded
property; and other damage. In some states, tracts of bottomland hardwood timber up to several
thousand acres in size may be lost because of beaver. Some unusual cases observed include
state highways flooded because of beaver ponds, reservoir dams destroyed by bank den burrows
collapsing, and train derailments caused by continued flooding and burrowing. Housing
developments have been threatened by beaver dam flooding, and thousands of acres of cropland
and young pine plantations have been flooded by beaver dams. Road ditches, drain pipes, and
culverts have been stopped up so badly that they had to be dynamited out and replaced. Some
bridges have been destroyed because of beaver dam-building activity. In addition, beavers
threaten human health by contaminating water supplies with Giardia.

Identifying beaver damage generally is not difficult. Signs include dams; dammed-up culverts,
bridges, or drain pipes resulting in flooded lands, timber, roads, and crops; cut-down or girdled
trees and crops; lodges and burrows in ponds, reservoir levees, and dams. In large watersheds, it
may be difficult to locate bank dens. However, the limbs, cuttings, and debris around such areas as
well as dams along tributaries usually help pinpoint the area. (Source: Prevention and Control of
Wildlife Damage, 1994)

Health Concerns

Tularemia - A bacterial disease associated with various animal species especially beavers, rabbits,
and rodents. Tularemia occurs year-round throughout the United States and in Colorado, two
seasonal peaks, the first in May and another in October. People can contract tularemia by handling
infected animal carcasses, eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or breathing in F.
tularensis. Symptoms could include sudden fever/chills, headaches, muscle aches, cough,
progressive weakness, and pneumonia. If treated quickly with the appropriate antibiotics, this
potentially fatal disease is curable. Rubber gloves should be worn when handling beavers or
working where they live. Also, avoid drinking untreated water.

Giardiasis - This disease, found in beavers and other animals is a diarrheal illness caused by a
one-celled, microscopic parasite that lives in the intestine of people and animals. It has become
recognized as one of the most common causes of waterborne disease (drinking and recreational)
in humans in the United States. The symptoms associated with giardiasis range from none (in light
infections) to severe, chronic diarrhea. Giardia may be found in soil, food, water, or surfaces that
have been contaminated. To protect yourself, practice good hygiene and avoid drinking or eating
anything that may be contaminated. Boiling or filtering water removes the organisms that cause this
disease.