Colorado training with Sherri Tippie

I just got back from a two-week trip to the Colorado home of Sherri Tippie, beaver trapper extraordinaire. Here’s a highlight, or rather, THE highlight—releasing four “problem” beavers into Beaver Creek (!) high in the Colorado backcounty. Kate has put together this great PDF chronicling the adventure, which is definitely worth a look: Live Trapping Beaver In Colorado. It’s 5 MB, so be patient…

A 67 year old hairdresser turned beaver advocate, Sherri’s been doing great work for almost 30 years, and was kind enough to share her home, her knowledge, and a host of techniques and tips for successfully live-trapping and relocating beavers.

I drove out there with Kate Lundquist of OAEC’s WATER Institute, and we met Moira Snuffer, an Ohio college student who got there a couple days ahead of us, and were finally joined by Carol Nieukirk, who helped found OAEC and is now living and working in New Mexico. It was a full house, and we made the most of it.

We rebuilt traps, which were definitely showing some wear and tear, set and pulled traps both empty and full, trapped and relocated beavers, did a little work around the house and even found time for sipping margaritas with the beavers in the backyard.

It was an altogether fantastic trip, capped with a stunning mushroom harvest at a top-secret New Mexico location (the photo is 1/4 of the haul—thanks Carol!).

Also, I’m happy to report that I can now supply improved Hancock-style traps, which haven’t been manufactured for some years. These are the only traps that Sherri recommends, and based on her record and the relative ease of use, I’d recommend the same.