Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1888-01-21
4 WONDERFUL ANIMAL.
The Ingendityi shfewdness and Habits OF
the Beayer,

once had an opportunity ~ mves.
tigatii'g . beaver house. First | stood
upon the oyen-silarcd roof, and al
though constructed simply " light
t~igs, willow switches and mud, my
weight made pot the slightest deprcs-
sion. Cutting through some fourteen
or fifteen inches Of solid roGl. ibers
appeared to be II sort Of underground
town. with liquid streets, where there
was any quantity of winter food laid
up in the shape Of "eordwood." There
were partitions which divided the un-
dcrground Warehouse into apartments,
| with no communication between them
except by means of water canals.
The authorities advance the idea of
these partitions not belng erected for
the purpose of dividing mp the interior
but for supporting the roof of the mann
building. The posts are solid and sub
stantial, rendering a cave in impossi-
BILE, and displays rare sagacity in the
animals for the solid supporting of II
heavy roof Verify these underground
cities are miniature Fences. except
ing that the inhabitants 90 swimming
around the streets instead of floating
from place to place in fanciful gon-
dolas.
A beaver dam is almost a work OF
art. Should the water be sluggish
slow moving. or almost stagnant, the
dam will, as Il rule, run straight across
from bank to bank but where the
current is swift, the dam is then curved.
Most of their work is done after night
fall. With their broad, fiat tail used
as trowcl they will draw up mud and
leaves from beneath the surface and
plaster it on as skillfully as hired
mason would do the job. No crcvce
or hole escapes their vigilant eye, and
that is the reason why we never hear
Of Il beaver dam being washed away
This animal never hesitates to tackle
a tree no matter what the size may be,
, The writer hns seen some beaver stumps
AS much as thirty inches in diameter
! completely cut through by their saw
like teeth and again others that must
, have measured in diameter aS much as
5 three feet In the park on the border
! of Beaver lake is one giant cotton
. wood that was evidently attempted by
! two of the animals ut one time, but
h right here curious miscalculation was
, made by the workers. A log lay agains
!. the tree oil the uphill side. and at thi'
point one of the pair started in It
: slaughter the tree, while the Other
a worked from the ground on the oppo
e site side and fully two feet lower THAI
+ his comrade. Previous to commencing
n the lob. a large rotten limb had iir>
y, been cut away to make room Tor TIL
ii workers; but after all it WAS labor lost
i'd for the tree was never utilized. 1t fcI
m against another large tree. and II
~ mains in that position to-day. Their
's are many other trees in the par
10 girdled, though not entirely CT
through. The food of beavers i'll thl
as latitude consists principally of willow
u, aspen. cottonwood alder and the BALI
le of Gilead but. a. remarked, they Al
in gradually retreating before the ell
It croachmcnts Of civilization, 50 that tn
~, :, principal beaver colonies in the Nortl
:. west to-day are high up among til
&c peaks of the Rocky mountains
G. Wherever water can be found theI
re re will the beaver 60. The coltonwoo
st. tree disappears at about eight thousan
feet, and for the next two thousan
or feet the quaking aspen becomes the +,
no ~, vorite bill of fare; hut when the aspe
on supply becomes rather limited then tn
ay little rodents depend chiefly upon wi
lh lows and dwarfed shrubs. 1t is well
AZ note that they will touch no kind (
re resinous wood for food, although pin,
on and frs are used indiscrimnately
Ks the construction of dams, Nontd'
A. Cor. 81 L0Ris Globe Democrat