The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-09-10
A SNOW-WHITE BEAVER.
Value to the Montana Cattlcmcn of tn,
Dams Built by the Beavers.

Dams Built by the beavers.
81 believe I am the only white per-
son that ever trapped or killed an adult
albino beaver" said Thomas Gilroy, an
ex-ranchman of Montana. "Albino
beavers are the rarest of animals, and
the only specimens | ever saw besides
the one l trapped were two cubs cap
tured by an Indian on Wind River
more than thirty years ago. There
were four young beavers in the nest
this Indian secured, and two Of them
were black. The mother of the lit
ter was captured with them, and she
was black. There is another very rare
beaver in the northwest region. This
Is the golden beaver, and bears the
choicest of all fur. The golden beaver
Is almost as rare as the white beaver,
the albino being merely a freak of ma
ture, while the golden beaver is a
species. This beaver IA not known
In this country until about 1880, when
the first specimen was discovered in
the Milk river region. Up to that time
Siberia was supposed to be the ami
mails only habitat. I wasn't in the
trapping business when l caught the
albino beaver, or perhaps l wouldn't
have had the chance to bag him and
the thirty-four others | got along with
him. | had heard a good many won.
derful stories about how beavers chop.
ped down fir trees, and, being anxious
to see how far from the truth some Of
these stories were, I found where beav-
ers were at work in a piece of cedar
woods through which a branch of the
Wind river flowed. l chose a bright
moonlight night to watch the beavers
at their tree chopping. / hid myself
before nightfall near the spot. Soon
after nightfall a beaver came out OF
the water, vent straight to a good siz-
ed cedar tree, and began work upon
it with his teeth without a moments
delay. While he was at work another
beaver appeared from the river, and
as he drew himself out of the water to
the bank where the moor shone full
upon him / saw that he was as white
as snow. The white beaver selected a
tree and went seriously to work Telling
it. don't believe a woodchopper with
his AK could have felled those trees any
quicker than those two beavers did
with their chisel-like teeth. Long be-
fore | had come into personal contact
with the beaver | had read in the books
that the beavers built dams for the
purpose of making a swimming and
fishing pond. After | began taking
an interest in beavers | found that the
book explanation was as ridiculous rs
It was lacking in fact. | found that
the beaver does not eat fish or flesh OF
any kind, but subsists entirely on ten
der roots and barks, which are plen-
tiful during the summer, but cease to
provide nutritious or hunger-allaying
qualities when the cold season is at
hand. So the beaver builds dams to
provide against the pinch Of hunger
during the winter. The instinct of the
beaver teaches him that these sub
stances submerged in water will keep
green, fresh and nutritious all winter
long, so he selects a spot where his
food grows abundant near the shores
and dams the stream so that the water
will be flooded back over the young
willows and aspens and cottonwoods
and held there. Thus the bark OF
them is kept soft, juicy and tender,
and the beaver has his store of nu-
tritious food to draw upon all winter
long. II there Is no growth OF such
woods convenient for overlooking, the
beaver cuts down willows, cottonwoods
and sspens-the cottonwood being the
favorite-f1oats them to the dam. sinks
them to the bottom. fixes them there
below the freezing depth and they keer
as fresh and tender as IL they were
! growing on the banks and quickenet
by the spring sunshine and rains"