We have more beaver living across the U.S. than in any time in the last 160 year! Contrary to urban legend, the Beaver were not made extinct, by being " Trapped out " by fur trappers back in the 1820-1840 period. " Trapping out " merely means that the number of animals in a given mile of river or stream were too few to make it worth a man's while to set his traps there.
A Beaver fir flap on a bag has always been appropriate. It give the city folk something to gape at and talk about. One woman told her little boy that beaver were extinct, when we had beaver taking down trees along the shore of the lake not 100 yds from where we were putting on a shooting demonstration for the public. I corrected her, and suggested that she take her boy down to the lake and show him the tree stumps of the trees cut down by beaver, so he will know and remember what those teeth marks look like when he sees them again. Because beaver are mainly nocturnal in their movements, unless you get lucky to be out at first light, or last light, you are not likely to see a beaver in the wild, even when you have located their dens. The chewed-down trees and dams are your best " sign " that beaver are present. We have beaver living in every stream and ditch in Champaign County, Illinois, where I live, including in downtown Urbana.
