Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1886-01-29
ABOUT THE BEAVER.

A recent writer, in the San Francisco
Call. on the subject Of trapping and
hunting in the northern wilIs, gives the
following interesting facts regarding
that indefatigable animal, the beaver.
He says:
"The beaver, though not producing
so fine or valuable fur as the marten,
is always favorite with the trapper for
several reasons. He is not meddlesome
or obfrusive animal, and scarcely ever
springs trap set for higher game. The
lynx. weasel, and many other poor fur
producers, will poke their noses into or
tread on places designed for their bet
ters, although the penalty is death and
curses long and loud on their corpses.
| The beaver is also favorlte because ne
produces dainty morsel Of eating. a
beavers tail is very dainty dish. A
young stewed chicken or rabbit comes
nearest to it, yet not nearly as good.
! Apart from selfish motives, there is
kind Of sentimental regard on the part
of trappers for them, in Difference to
their indefatigable energy and Industry.
There are all kinds Of apparently inn
possible and incredible yarns told about
! their habits and ingenuity. But as
have seen their villages can vouch for
| the truth of these statements. The VIII
lage saw building was at Mud lake,
in British Columbia, which, at the time
| was there, had some fifteen to twenty
! houses, and was distant some nifty or
| one hundred feet from the shore in the
water. The bottom of the lake was their
| foundation, which was some four or
! five feet deep. Their houses are built
in the shape of immense fiat bee-hives,
the dome appearing on the surface OF
the lake, four or five feet high, and
from six TO eight feet in diameter.
/ There is no exit nor entrance above the
surface, but the auimals dive and then
| swim 10 the shelf which runs in circle
around the wall of the house and sufii-
| ciently high so that the beaver can sit
dry with his face to the wall and his
| tail hanging in the water. The object
of letting their tails lie in the water
| during their sleeping hours is for the
purpose of sentinel work; for so sensi-
tive are their caudal appendages to any
motion in the water that man riding Il
horse into the water mile away can be
discerned. The ripples caused by wad-
ing would be felt by these little crea-
lures. In fact, stone thrown into the
water 500 feet from their villages will
give the alarm to the entire settlement.
THE BEAVER DAMS.
You know their dams are the most
pei feet of engineering feats. They cut
down huge tree, and scarcely ever
miss telling it where ii is wanted. The
| stump, after the tree is felled, is per-
feet cone, geometrically correct, the
only roughness or irregularity being
the teeth marks in the surface. The
trees are fioated down to their location.
With these logs and clay and sticks they
will build dam that will stand heavy
floods for years. The British Columbia
Indians show one at the bead of Will
/ iam's lake that was deserted by the bea-
vers fifty years ago. Their manner Of
anchoring the dams, or getting any
foundation on which TO build their
structure, is puzzle. They can do al
most anything with their tails, but pile
driving is cut above their heft. There
are hundreds, perhaps several thou
sands, working at once on dam. You
will see some bring sticks in their
mouths, which they lay carefully on
some clay which fellow-workman has
Just brought and spread out with his
tail. After laying the sticks TO the lik-
ing of the bosses, there's noise Of tails
slapping-just as man would with a
shovel-beating the sticks into the clay !;
! then come others with their tails laden
with clay, which they dump, spread out
/ and prepare for another layer of sticks !;
then comes crowd with log four or
/ five feet long, floating down the creek,
and a kind of pilot sitting on top,
screaming out his instructions; go the
work goes on until a dam superior to
any made by human ability is finished
and perfectly water-tight; and so rap
idly is the work done that small creek,
running, perhaps, 800 inches Of water,
has been damned between six in the
evening and nine the following MORN
ing. so that miners working below had
TO go six miles up the creek 10 burst the
dam. Those who burst it were green,
and Just made hole large enough to let
of about 100 inches or so, supposing
that by the time they got back TO the
claim the whole 700 inches would be
following them. Five hours afterward
the creek was dry; and this so frequent
" occurred that finally the miners had
to blast the dam with blasting powder.
So much has been said about the bea-
yer's tail that the following description
will be of interest: The beavers tail Is
shaped like bricklayer's trowel, but
much larger-about fourteen to sixteen
inches long and five to seven inches
wide. 1t is devoid Of hair and fur, and
! coverad with n fishv-looking skin as