The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-05-22


~. Letter, toihr Editor. inor'lcr TO receive at
.,r.. ~ uu-. be y",<' I"fiL
81 s,,,., from the No,r-look of Naturalist.
TIE BEAVER.
h.aycr arrive in this country in the
,;;r,,r Of s2j. very Young, small and wool
o.. and without the covering Of lon. hair that
Ark. the adult animal 1t was the sole sur
,;ror Of five orsix which We're shipped at the
.,... time, and it wa, in very pitiablc con-
a.o,. lean. and with the coat all clo@@ed
t.,h pitch and tar. Good treatment quickly
-,,orrl it to health it grew apacc, pumped
81, Az. thri fur became clean and i'll GOOD
rll,ipu Kindness soon made it familiar.
When called by It's name "Binnv," it "cncr-
av answered with little, low, plaintive cry,
All -amc 10 its owner The hcarth-ruy was
.,-roritc haunt in winter evening. and
..,-,,,n Il would lie stretched ont at it, lcnmth
.a-,imr> on its hack. and sometimes on it,
y.cNpandinn It's wchhcd toes To secure
Il, ... action of comfortable fire on them
always near its master.
IT, building instinct showed itself early
'a.,rr it had been week in its new quarters
:, ,.,,n aS it was let out of its cage. and ma
.-, were placed in its way. it Immediately
,,o work Ii strcn@th even before it
~, half crown was nrcat 1t would drag a
MA arrr sweeping brush. or warming
I'm. ,rl>I,ing the handle with It's teeth. so
t.i +, ,amr over its shoulder. and advancing
with the load in an ohlique direction, till it
arrived a, tn" point where 1t wished to place
T.. Tire iong and large materials were al
va,,takcn first. and two of the longest were
generally laid cro>Swisp. with the ends Of
.ph touching the wall, and the other ends
'~ir.tiu@ ont into the room. The area
.,rurI hv the crossed brushes and the wall
he would fill up with hand brushes, rushbas-
s,s books. boots, sticks clothes. dried turf.
- ANYTHING portable. As the work grew
n he supported himself on his tail, which
l-olf~l him up admirably; and he would Of
tn after LAWN" on one of his building mate
A.. 1t up over against it, appearing to con-
'.er his work, or, as the country-pcoplc say,
"9Igc it, This pause was sometimes fol-
wed by changing the position o: the matcri-
-lnd .cd. and sometimes it was left in its
'1'e. After he had piled up his materials
ID oar part "i the room, (lor hc usually chose
%" same pIare,) he proceeded to wall up the
'1rc between the feet ola chest of drawers
".rl stood at little distance from l.. hinl
'"7-h on IL legs to make the bottom roof
Am: u>ing Tor this purpose dried turf
Ill. >HrAS. which he laid very cvcn and fill
mp the intrr>tcc> with bits of coal. hav
,a' or ANYTHING he could pick up. Thi:
AZ place he seemed to appropriate for hi:
+''''in-; the former work seemed to be in
'''..d tor dam. When he had walled III
"' space between the feet OF the chest of
'''"rF>. he proceeded to carry in sticks. hav
''i-wooI. A.. To make nest. When he
"' ''' done tins TO his satisfaction. he woulc
u uhI"r the drawers and comb himself
wal VIE mails Of his hind feet. In his opc
''''h' that which appears to he maltorma
'' was shown 20 t'c a beautiful adaptation t'
necessities OF the animal The huge
'''''i A'ad feet Of the beaver turn in so a.
give 'H' appearance Of dctormitv; bu
''' "r' We're straight, instead of being in
'"'"'' the animal could not Use them Sc
|'''' i'F the purpose of keeping its fur il
'' 'h1 rIeansing it from dirt and moist
"'""! generally carried small and lich
N 'v'"ccn his RIGHT forc-lcg and hi,
"'Ain2 on the other three lees; anc
masses which he could not grasp rcadi
VIII Ms teeth, he pushed forwards, lean
'..'' them with his rich; forc-paw anG
,, lie never carried ANYTHING on his tail
lie liked to dip in water. but he wa:
=. ~ iIun-ing in the whole of his body
Ill. wa> kept moist he never cared t.
.0' II II va, dry it became hot, anc
..''.' appeared distressed. and wou,
" ifyai deal. 1t is not impossible tha
g., '' may have the power of absorbing wa
o.. '"' SKIN OF frogs, though the seal,
''"rn' winch inyerts that member ha.
".' Il 'i The character which general,
,-' * 1" a1>orh.n. surfaces.
''' "'cn asserted, and in some deere,
T. ''@' the song Of birds depends OF
.... '''i '"ey first hcaG; but their nest
,''N'> to DC the result OF innate in
h''ny must have been captured to,
nave seen any Of the building opc
!.H-.;- ~ H..;. ~o-!aa,vs. Lu