The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1891-07-23
KMGORE,S BEAVER FARM.
A Georgia Farmers Latest Plan to Got
Rich.

BAscoMb, GA, June 5O.-"You have
never heard of Dick Kilgore's beaver
farm? That's queer" The speaker vas
old "Mud Cat" Williams, who has been a
fisherman in the Southeast Georgia
streams tor forty years.
"Dick's going to make pile of money
this year," he continued, "on account of
this country and England getting togeth-
er and agreeing to closed season in
Behring Sea. You see there will not be
any sealskins for market next season, and
beaver skins, which make splendid
substitute, will be largely used, and will
bring about ten dollars a skin In New
York.
"Dick has about two hundred beavers,
young and old, but there are not more
than twenty to be killed for their skins
this year. It's new industry, an exper-
iment with him, and be don't want to kill
any except the surplus males for the pres
ent. But suppose you 60 out with me
and see the farm"
GA drive of ten miles through the
swamps along Briar Greek, and the Kill
gore place, on Beaver Dam Hollow, was
reached.
"Now, here's the farm, ,"eaid Williams,
pointing to the creek, across which every
few yards were rough dams and above
them, in the almost still water, were
mounds Of earth. rocks aud sticks coming
out few feet above the surface of the
water.
"You know beavers don't show them
selves much in the day. They do their
work at night. Dick owns about one
thousand acres, running up and down the
creek. He has the land posted and keeps
everybody of, but it is not fenced.
Fences would not keep the beavers in,
but there is no danger of them going off,
for this is natural home to them, and
every beaver here knows old Dick. He
feeds them every night, and they come
home when he calls them, like hogs"
Kilgore has been a farmer down here
for years, and beavers have been in the
creek for all time, but it was not until
recently that he began to protect and care
for them, with view to making beaver
raising regular business. 1t will be a
profitable business, for the scarcity of
aealskins has increased the value of bea-
YER skins, and they will continue to in
crease year by year. a few years ago
beaver skins sold as low as 81 per skin,
but they should nov bring at least $40
each.
Beaver skins sent to London and prop.
erly dyed seal brown are splendid imi-
tations Of the seal. The seal fur, you
know, is naturally gray. The reason I
say send beaver skins to London is be-
cause that is the only place in the world,
it seems, that fur can be properly dyed.
However, the fur of the beaver is natu-
rally reddish brown, and is beautiful
fur.
The beaver ia a queer little animal.
When full grown it weighs from fifty to
sixty pounds. It's hind legs are its prin.
ciple propellers, both when in and out of
the water. The hind feet are webbed and
the front ones have claws, which are
about as convenient to the beaver as a
monkeys claws are to him. They can
carry stones or sticks about in them with
ease. In the water, especially, beaver
can carry quantity of freight, for he
swims with his hind feet aud carries his
load in his mouth.
Just after dark Mr.. Kilgore went down
to the edge of the stream to feed the
beavers.
"I don't often feed them in the sum-
mer," he said, "for they getall they want
along the banks of the stream. They eat
the bark of young trees, and at this sea-
son there is an abundance of fresh, ten
der bark and grasses and roots. In the
winter they lay up supply of food for
themselves along the banks and in their
holes in the dams, which they build ot
roots and sticks and stones. I feed them
nearly all the time in winter, when they
flock together and unite in building
dams, but in summer they scstter-every
fellow for himself-and I only call them
up occasionally, just enough to keep
them tame. As they are scattered off fol
miles around, but few will come to q call
for food"
But there were dozen romping about
in the stream lhcn, and in few minutes
quite number had gathered. Among
them were score or more little fellows
born only q month ago. The females
have from two to six young ones annual
ly, and as consequence the young ones
increase very rapidly.
A mixture of green food and little
grain was thrown out on the ground to
the herd of little animals, and they scam
pered around and picked it up like sc
many hogs. Some of them would gathe,
up an ear of corn or young cornstalk
and dive off with it into the stream
They were tame, but like hogs, would
scsmper off if you tried to catch one.
A beaver seems to be almost human in
intelligence. They actually gnaw. down
young trees, drag them into stream and
let them float down, swimming with them
to the place they want to build a dam.
Then they will drag stones, roots, sticks
and grasses, and, indeed, everything used
to dam stream, until they.have practi-
cally as substantial dam as man could
construct. They do this to make the va.
ter above deep enough to sport in and
placid enough to build their homes Of
ot;ota and nnd in which ara varv warm