It is now being studied and it is being recognized that the damage that is being created by the dams built by Milwaukee beavers. The dams are created upstream and the problems occur downstream. The damage can easily be compared to a huge 200-year flood. Researchers studying along the Colorado River have learned that the Beaver dams affect the natural flow or stream of the natural waterchannels; with this the water goes downhill for hundreds of yards.

It is also realized the ground water is also changed by the Wisconsin beaver dams. In this case it is not necessarily a negative in its entirety. Water that has been damned does not flow to the middle of the valley, instead it goes to the side of the valley and creates a water table high enough to sustain animal and plant life during a dry summer. Dammed water redirects the flow, this redirection will extend the height and length and time of a flood.

When it comes to the water and flooding there is a definite damage problem with our trees. The activity of the Wisconsin beaver creates a $19 billion loss of trees and wood per year in 1 state alone. Beavers will build their homes by reconstructing the landscape to build what it needs. The beaver kills a tree slowly, beginning with the removal of bark. Bark keeps the moisture and nutrients from going to where is required to keep the tree alive. The Milwaukee beaver, however does not waste the bark, they feed on the bark.

The Wisconsin beaver removal of trees can cause a few problems. In some case the current flow has changed and thereby create erosion. In yet another instance, the water temperature will rise, this in turn may create an ecological problem with Milwaukee fish that has already been disrupted from the damming. One of the ecological damages for the fish is that spawning may not occur as usual.

Wisconsin wildlife Management has come up with a few answers to the beaver destruction, however, beavers do good things and the population is dwindling. The most used approached to remove the dams but not the animal itself. With or without the good the beaver may do. It still must be worked out to eliminate the damage that they cause. The rising water temperatures, the great loss of trees are problems that hit us economically and the reduction of spawning fish will soon be effect our Milwaukee fish populations.

Visit our Milwaukee wildlife trapping home page to learn more about us.