St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-11-09
Hunting the Beaver.
A STORY FOR THE CHILDREN.


"Have you ever hunted them your
self ~ asked Willie.
81 once, when quite a young man
joined a hunting expedition with a
number of Others, some of whom were
Indians and experienced trappers,n an
swerd his uncle.
'Tell us all about it, Uncle," said
both boys in the same breath. SIT
must have been famous sport"
'FOr us it certainly was,n said Uncle
George, laughing; but, whether the
beavers enjoyed it as well, leave you
to imagine. We started out armed with
spears and other necessary instruments,
and having arrived at a collection of
their houses, we proceeded first to stake
the river all the way across, to prevent
them from passing. This done, the
more experienced of the number walked
along the edge of the banks, knocking
repeatedly against the ice with chisel
attached to the end of staff four or
five feet long, with which each was pro-
vided. Those accustomed to it can tell
at once when they strike opposite any
of the holes which form the beavers re-
treats, and an opening was made in the
ice, large enough to admit an old bea-
yer. In this way they proceeded until
all, or at least, as many as possible of
the holes had been discovered. While
this was being done by the principal
men, the others, including myself, were
busy breaking open the houses, and
assure you we found it no easy work,
for some were five or six feet thick, and
one no less than eight feet thick on the
crown. We could easily tell when the
beavers retreated to theiI holes in the
bank for shelter, by the motion of the
water. This being seen, the entrance
was blocked up with stakes of wood,
after which the animal was dispatched
with spear, and drawn up by the
hand, if he could be reached if not, by
means of hook fastened to the end of
stick intended for that purpose. Some
times, however, they are caught in nets,
and in summer very frequently caught
in traps"
Fred, who was very fond of animals,
and possessed pets of all kinds, now
wished to know if they were ever tanned.
eyes," said Uncle George, "I had one
given to me, which had been trapped,
when l was youth. At first / confined
~ Ill d WIG CdSO, uuo ditciWdruS IL De-
came so tame that it would answer to
its name and follow me around like a
dog. If l was absent it evidently miss
ed me, and upon my return showed un-
mistakable signs of pleasure. We were
often amused by the fellows antics,
and, one day, ON returning, found that
he had woven the branches given him
to nibble upon through the bars of his
cage, forming a dam; having filled up
the holes by pieces of carrots and other
vegetables, given as food, bitten into
the required size and shape. Before
this he sat down with satisfied air, as
though he had performed as necessary
task as the same would have been had
it been erected in lake or river. This
feat was afterwards repeated several
times in our sitting-iOom, where kept
him during the winter; the dam being
made of such articles as he could con-
trive to lay hold of, thus showing that
the beaver, ingenious and clever as he
most assuredly is, must be guided en-
tirely by instinct, and not by reason.-
"a Visit to the BeaUers,n in Ne,p Do
nainion Monthly for October.