New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-26
THE BEAVER IN BRITAIN.
-, EDNr-ND LODERS ATTEMPT TO RE-
rsrARIIsH THE ANIMAL THERE.


generation, but in each case have eventually
Seen unsuccessful. According to J. E. Har-
,,,g,s Extinct British Mammals" the first men
ITO, Of the animal In that country is in an
..,sn. code Of Welsh laws in $40 and the latest
:, RelIeden's vernacular translation Of Boethluss
.~-onickles OF Scotland" About seven years
eo Sir Edmund Loder at Leonardslee, In Sus-
,ox turned out beavers imported direct from
North America. Of this venture recent writer
q, The Sketch" says:
"rn a ravine whose sleeps are smothered In
bracken and pine. with the rhododendrons BE-
,ovsd OF pheasants glowing pink through the
snade the Leonardslee beavers dwell in undis-
,urbed seclusion secure from interference BY
,-osaIc galvanized iron fence. A good hunoreu
o-ss q, the stream which wanders between
esdge an wood Is theirs and they have damned
the brook across To form a pond hfty yards III
,sne,h and about twenty-five yards az its widest
Anproachng from above, tell-tale ripp'es or the
vs,Iow pond hetray a beaver abroad; they are
r,osi active when the shadows begin TO lengthen'
Int under the soothing influences OF deep shaoe
and ouiet they show sometimes az high noon
cantivi,v has not done much 10 decrease their
,s,ural shyness and IL you would see the pea
,.o -o,.st he ratisnt II Is difficult 10 realize
=. o,co thar the dam which holds the water
,rlI, I'VE feet above it's old level Is not the WORK
o,man. The exposed side is an easy slope over
crown here and there with grass but FOR the
mos, part Uttered with sticks and lengths or
small timber carefully and completely parked
one might suppose that the beavers had peeh
furnished with a few hop-poes and length OF
s,rrdv post-and-rais 10 be broken up and lit
terod over the embankment. The dam stretches
about thirty feet from bank 20 bank, bulging IT.
,ar,,lar,v Downstream; It must he fully eight
foot thick at the base, but Is no higher than
necessary to retain the water in the pond. The
overflow finds its way through the dam close
under the banks
DESTRUCTIVE TO TREES.
CT, the stream below the dam trees eight or ten
inches thick lie prone stump and stem held TO-
Gather by A few fbres are neatly coned Ike
hroken hour-glass; at the top Of the pond two
stout pines rear their wlthered crests above the
water which covers their roots; each IS deeply
.vir5led' NJ the waters edge by the industrious
but destructive beavers. with single excep-
ton every unprotected tree in the Enclosure Is
either killed in this way or felled outright; the
exception Is a small oak which grows by the old
strean-bed and whose roots are hair-buried oy
the embankment; its bark shows not the marx
OF a tooth Is the wood too hard. the sap 100
sour or does that tree serve useful purpose III
strengthening the dam? A heap of barked sticks
close under the bank shows the site or the nrs'
dam built by the beavers on their enlargement
they began IT, by the way, within a week OF
being turned out. and abandoned it when the
bounds Of their home were widened casual
glance at the butt Of stick drawn from the
bean gives a momentary shock The cut face
seems 10 have been the work OF an axe and
sharp one at that Only when you come 10 eX-
anime 1t closely do you find the marks OF the
teeth clean and distinct running in fine parallel
ridges across the grain
so far the Leonardslee beavers have done
we'll There have been several young ones, some
Of which have grown up and some of which
have died One youngster born last year
and must be ful-grown by this time, but how
many the colony numbers II Is difficult 10 say
Sir Edmund Loder believes that there are fve az
least perhaps six; IT Is Impossible 10 take
census Of creatures so shy. Beavers are not al
ways we'll behaved in confinement Only last
year two quarrelsOrle animals were caught ana
condemned TO be sold they had killed several Oh
the smaller and weaker ones. and IN the inter-
ests Of the colony could not be allowed 10 re-
main. Occasionally restless beaver escapes
from the Enclosure and proceeds TO explore the
neighborhOod: the wanderer is easily traced as
he cannot keep mis- teeth off tempting trees that
come in his way. and he is soon retaken in a
box-trap; one OF these traps containing rev
dog-biscuits always stands open in the inclosure'
so the truant will enter without hesitation.
few months ago an old beaver left her two young
ones and went on a Journey Of exploration down
the stream. she W Is caught a couple or niles
away by a miller who found her in his wheel
and brought her back in a sack she was none
the worse for her adventure. but, unfortunately.
both the cubs lied in her absence
PURPOSE OF THE BEAVERS DAM
AS good many people have the idea that
beavers dam is nothing more than a monument
OF misdirected industry reared 10 crafty the
tastes of an animal overpowered with a sense
Of the dignity Of Ia Dor it may be well TO observe
that IL is constructed TO accomplish an important
and definite end. Above all things it is necessary
to the safety of the lodge or burrow. wherein
the beaver dwes and brings forth its young.
that the entrance should be deeply submerged;
and the dam is built for the purpose Of securing
such depth Of that the burrow entrance
shall neither be exposed to drouth in summer
nor blocked by ice in winter. The tendency OF
the muddy bottom 70 silt up compels the beavers
10 increase the height and length Of their dam
each recurring spring when overlooking is most
10 be feared.
AN hours watch. disturbed only by the
whisper o. the Colden-crested wrens in the pine
overhead and the cooling Of distant dove the
beavers have been startled once to-day and
slow 10 come out again; az last the long hoped
for rpples roll circling from the bank just round
the corner and a beaver, with ears and nose
alone unsubmerged sw!ms out his red-brown
body clearly outlined in the yellow water He
!nspects critically the two big trees at the top OF
the pond swimming round each in turn. with his
nose in the fatal groove, but evidently decides
against beginning work just get He leaves the
trees and takes turn across the pond, evidently