St. Landry democrat., 1889-11-30
About Beavers.

Did the young reader ever see beaver,
| mean genuine, living, wild beaver. The
writer has s pent considerable time in study
ing their work and ways in their natl ge
homes in the West and they are most
remarkable among all the rodents for in
stinct and intelligence. Not even the
honey bee or the ant shows an instinct so
far-reachipg in its adaptation to conditions.
He reasons IN marvellous degree to an end
and purpose.
Beavers live in families like human be-
ings. The male has one wife; and the
children stay at home until they are three
years old, when they go abroad seeking
companions of their own and set up house
keeping for themselves. If, for any reason,
general break up of the lodge takes
place, the young beavers 60 down stream
and the old ones up, as it is easier to build
dam up stream where the water is shall
lower, and generally bark from small trees
is more easily obtained. are boys and
girls always careful to give the preference
to old age2
The lodges, j not broken up by man.
remain in use for long series of years,
and are admirably adapted to convenience
and safety. Each lodge on the bank of a
stream has three openings, and sometimes
more. The first entrance slopes up grad
ually from the bottom of the stream to the
chamber where the beavers live. By this
entrance they bring in their food, which
consists of short sucks of wood covered
with bark cut short enough to be turned
and handled any way inside of the living
room. Another entrance, or way of egres-
rather, goes straight down from the cham
Der to- level with the bottom of the river
when it turns squarely and comes out in
the bottom of the stream Down this hole
they drop the sticks when they have eaten
off the bark, and then drag the white
naked pieces of wood out to the bottom to
float away. The third entrance is from
beneath also, and is sinuous, turning in
beseiged by an enemy. All these entrance
ways are arched over with sticks and
plastered with mud and grass. The bot
with short sticks, like corduroy.
The lodge, or chambe itself, is house
from six 10 eight feet square, laid up
against the wall with sticks, like log
cabin. When a stick in the wall of this
cabin rots, it is carefully removed and
another put in its place.
ING ptdtor cAotCiSes 5 'cea1 iii5ohSo CIV
wisdom in procuring and storing its food.
The thick bark on the trunks of large trees
is not suitable for him and his family, and
SO they cut dow the tree for the smaller
limbs, on which the bark is more tender
and Dusriti ,us. Two nights work is sutfi
Gent to fell large tree, each family being
left to enjoy the Fl tits of its own labor.
1t is said they promptly kill all socialists,
trouble breeders and those who are too
lazy to work
When tree on which they are cutting
begins to crsckle, they desist from cutting
till it begins to fall, when they plunge
into the water one after another, "ptunk, .
"plunk," ''plunk," till all are in, where
they wait with the greatest caution lest
the noise of the falling tree might attract
some enemy to the place, maybe some fool
with a gun.
Nor is this all. They know how to reg
ulate the cutting of q tree SO as to make it
fall AWAY in the water. This is done SO
as to enable them to transport their short
sticks by WI ar to the lodge. After the
stick is cut and ready for transportation to
the lodge, Master Beaver places it under
his throat and pushes it before him to the