March 2023 - 17

When transplanted beavers take up permanent residence at a new location they can reconnect the floodplain and spread water out, which also improves riparian vegetation. (WGFD photo)
Cundy and Forest Service personnel
previously identified two locations that
could benefit from beaver activity, and the
trapped beavers were transported and released
to those areas. Five adults and two subadults
were released in Muddy Creek upstream of
the Forest Service Muddy Guard Station west
of Buffalo. Two adults and one sub-adult were
released in Sourdough Creek above the U.S.
Highway 16 crossing.
" The Sourdough Creek area was chosen
as a release site because it supports good
resources of aspen and willow and no beaver
activity has been documented there for more
than a decade, " Cundy said. " On Muddy
Creek, it is more recent that they have gone
away, possibly due to a tularemia outbreak,
but we have not definitively identified a cause
for their disappearance. "
The Sourdough Creek area also was
the site of previous construction of beaver
dam analogs. These structures mimic the
impacts of a beaver dam and may encourage
transplanted or naturally repopulating
beavers to stay in the area. They are built
by installing a line of posts with a woven
lattice of willow branches between them
to create a semi-permeable barrier that is
sealed in some areas with sod and mud.
The design of the structure is intended to
slow - but not stop - the movement of
water in small streams. Cundy monitored
the release locations via trail cameras and
observed some dam-building activity, which
verified the beavers were still in the release
area several weeks later. Cundy will visit the
areas in the late spring to look for evidence
of an established colony.
Cundy said from immediate transplant
time to a couple years afterwards a colony
becomes established a little over half of the
time, usually one-half to 2 miles from the
release site. When they take up permanent
residence their benefits to the landscape and
other wildlife species are far reaching.
" Through their activity, beavers can help
reconnect the floodplain and spread the
water out, " Cundy said. " It is probably the
cheapest way to improve riparian vegetation
and floodplain connectivity that we have.
I think it is a phenomenal way to increase
green vegetation development in streamside
areas to help fish, moose, mule deer and all
riparian-dependent wildlife. "
- Christina Schmidt is the information and education
specialist in the Sheridan Region and is a regular
contributor to Wyoming Wildlife.
Wyoming Wildlife | 17

March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2023

March 2023 - 1
March 2023 - 2
March 2023 - 3
March 2023 - 4
March 2023 - 5
March 2023 - 6
March 2023 - 7
March 2023 - 8
March 2023 - 9
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March 2023 - 11
March 2023 - 12
March 2023 - 13
March 2023 - 14
March 2023 - 15
March 2023 - 16
March 2023 - 17
March 2023 - 18
March 2023 - 19
March 2023 - 20
March 2023 - 21
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March 2023 - 25
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March 2023 - 47
March 2023 - 48
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