Or should I say bursting? A wise man once said, "there's no problem the right amount of small explosives can't solve". Well, today we solved a problem with little small explosive and a pew.
I've shown pictures and posts in past of how the Beavers have dammed up the creek on our property in multiple places, moving the flow and direction of the stream, flooding the ATV trail and creating a mosquito swamp. Well today, we won the first battle.
This is the "after" treatment pic. lol. Below is the "before" pic.
Here was the "before" pic. I'd say this was effective and just the right amount. (Well maybe just a bit more next time, lol).
Be Sure to check the video for the explosive results. It was great fun, and even more rewarding to see the stream back to it's natural path and the ATV trail already down from knee deep to just mud in only a few minutes. Hopefully, they will be happy staying in the dam they have further upstream, which does not impact the normal flow.
So, before the snowflakes get into a tizzy. Yes, this was all done safely and legally. Beavers do not live in dams, they build separate shelters. Go back to being woke and ignorant if you didn't do the research to know that.
The tools for the job were a saws-all, 20 lbs. of Tannerite (actually just under that), and my favorite rifle Sako 22-250 in a Boyd's AT One stock. First we used a battery powered saws-all to cut a little hole through some limbs to create a hole in the dam big enough for the bucket of explosive to fit in.
I used a 2 lb. bucket, and taped a lid onto it with duct tape. I then filled it with Tannerite, and shot it with the rifle.
What is Tannerite? Tannerite is a binary (2 part) exploding target. These are often bought in much smaller sizes for a visual effect when target shooting. It is safe enough to ship through the U.S. mail, (not sure about other countries) and not explosive until the two parts are mixed together. Instead of flame which could cause fire danger, the chemical reaction produces a water vapor and thunderous boom. It's fairly weak as explosives go, producing a little less that 50% of the energy that TNT (dynamite) produces per similar pound. That said, they still recommend at least 50 yard distance for 2 lb. and at least 100 yard distance for 5lb - 10lb.
I bought mine in several smaller 5 lb. units and then combined 4 of them to make my desired 20 lb. amount for the dam. It was really a guesstimate for me based on watching other videos and comparing the size of my dam to others, and also the limited amount of distance I had for clear shot (safety first).
Once mixed together, Tannerite is still very stable. It won't go off if dropped. Instead, it's designed to be detonated by shooting a high power rifle at it. Typically a minimum size of .223 caliber at over 2,000 fps is recommended. I used my Sako 22-250 that shoots similar size bullet at around 2800 fps to detonate my bucket of fun.
Definitely something to experience if you haven't before (start smaller). I'll be smiling for a week. I put together a little video for your enjoyment. No critics on the video, I was the only one there, planting the party, working the cameras, flying the drone, and taking out the target. I didn't take time to edit over, so the drone video parts have no sound. If you pay attention in the drone videos, you can see where I was sitting and also see at least part of how much area their dam had flooded beyond what should have just been the creek running through.
For those that have stuck with the post this far, here is the money shot, link to the video. Be sure to watch to the end for the Slow Motion outtakes :)
All pics and video original copyright the author of this post.
Filmed with GoPro 10 and DJI Mavic 3 (Most of drone footage shot at 2-3x zoom for safe distance).
Happy Memorial Day to all.
