Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-04-17
Beavers.

The habits and habitations of beavers furnish
many interesting lessons for study to the wood
men and hunters, whether scientific naturasts or
not. In our boyheod, the principal sources of in
formation respecting them were the old dams and
traces of dams that were found on every little
brook where we fshed or hunted cowslps for
greens. These beaver dams consisted of ridges
of earth, from four or five feet above the common
level of the "beaver meadow" fat, running each
way from the brook to the rising land. We
could find great numbers of these dams, where il
would be hard to understand how they could make
ponds of sufficient depth for the beavers use.
But the brooks in the primeval forests, before
the inroads Of civilization, afforded more water
than in modern times, and in many instances the
marshy pools which the beavers habits require,
by a natural process have grown up and filled up
to solid land. As in the older parts of the coun-
t-y no new works are found, it was generally un-
derstood that the beavers left and moved of
whenever civilization settlements grew up near
them, and we have been surprised to and in this
region the evidence of many living working
beavers.
On the different tributaries of the ST. John
river running out of this State there are some
hundreds of them caught every year, and they do
not seem to diminish. Hunting parties. whether
of white men Indians, consisting of two or
three men, often get from ten to twenty beavers
| HI ~ NlhtcI Dunt l1uDlDtrlflp OptfdtlOnc nave
a tendency to drive them to the small brooks and
head sources of the rivers, for when found on
driving streams" their dams have been torn
away, but they do not seem particularly shy OF
men settlements unless their dams or houses
are destroyed. -Four or five years ago, it is said
a company of them built dams and houses in the
town of Ashland, only two miles from the village
or corner, as it was called, and stayed two years
when a part were caught, and the rest driver
| away by the hunters.
] There are two kinds of them, differing only il
| their habits. For some reason, now and ther
one of them usually wanders alone, and has ONLY
hole in the bank of the river to live in, while
they generally live in pairs or families, building
houses and dams, and providing stores in compa
| nies-hence the term "family," or working bea
vers." The suppostion is that the bank beaver
are such as have, for some reason, come short o
| mate, or for idleness. have been driven from
the ponds and houses. They are the same ami
mails every way, only exiles. The law of indus
try among working beavers, is well attested to b.
hunters. Their dams or houses are built anew
or remodeled, every fall, and in way to suit tn
height of the water the succeeding winter o
spring. The object of the dam seems to be t
regulate the height of the water at their houses
where they have .@o or three berths ut differen
heights, where they sleep dry, but with tails il
the water, thus being warned of any change il
the rise or fall of water. Some houses stand a
least above the surface of the meadow, covere
with mud, in the form of round coal pit. but in
tersected with sticks of wood, so as to be strong
: and the weight of three or four men makes n
impression upon it.
"full family as hunters call them, consist
: of the parental pair and the males of the mex
generation, with their mates. When the tribe &c
. larger than this they colonize. Some time in tn
fall all single ones of both sexes congregate fror
considerable distance. to the deepest lake in tn
, vicinity, where they choose their mates-ho'
ceremonious the nuptuals, we can not say; the
they all 60 home; the female following her mate
and all go to work, first putting the house an
dam in order for winter then laying in their stoc
of wood, the bark of which is their winter foot
2 They go up the stream some three miles for the
wood, and run it down to their houses, and the
q in some mysterious way make it lay in pile
the bottom of the pond, outside the house, wher
they may take it at any time in the winter fo
use 1t is said that no hnman hands can distur
!, that wood, without its rising and remaining ahos
till the beaver has the handling of it again. Bu
:, we do not feel quite sure what is fact and what
conjecture respecting the beaver, whose works a.
e so much in the night and so deep under water.
The fall of the year is busy time with then
and it is interesting to see their new dams in pr
cess ofbuildng, as we sometimes find them acrol
d large boating streams, and not unfrequently boa
!, men and river drivers tear away their dams an
= get good head Of water for their use. The
d usually build at the outlet of natural ponds. an
}, sometimes they flow large lakes and long piec'
7. Of dead water, but are always moving and recol
I, structing How they keep their teeth in order Fl
s so much eating, when the best steel would we
e out, is a mystery
b They cut logs sometimes a foot through, ar
every stroke of the teeth tells toward the job,
e never does a tooth get dull..-Aroosfook Ponce