Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-02-17
CLEVER L,rrLe BEAVERS.
They Can Give the Best Woodchoppers Points
About Their Own Trade.


the only s-eeimens ever saw besides
the one l trapped were tWo CUPS CAD
tured by an Indian on Wlnd river more
than 80 years ago. There were lou.
Young beavers in the nest uiils ihalan
secured, and two of them We're pfack
The mother of the litter was captured
with them. and she was Dlack. lnere
is another very rare beaver III the
Northwest region. This is the golden
beaver, and bears the choicest of all
fur. The golden beaver rs almost as
rare as the white beaver the Ammo
being merely a freak of nature. while
the golden beaver is species. This
beaver was not known in TINS country
until about 1880, when the frst speci-
men was discovered in the MILK River
region. Up to that time Siberia was
suuuosed to be the animaFs only
habitat.
Il had heard good many wonderful
stories about how beavers chopped
down trees. and. being anxious to see
how far from the truth some of these
stories were | found where beavers
were at work in IA piece of cedar woods
through which a branch of the Wind
river flowed. l chose a bright NOON
light night to watch the beavers at
their tree-chopping. l hid myself be
fore nishtfall near the spot. Soon
after nightfall a beaver came out of
the water. went straight to good
sized cedar tree and began work upon
it with his teeth.
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 moon shone full upon
him. | saw that he was as white as
snow. The white beaver selected
tree and Went vigorously to work fell
ing ii. / don't believe Il woodchopper
with his AK could have felled those
trees any quicker than those two
beavers did with their chisel-lika
teeth
Long before / had come into per-
sonal contact with the beaver. | had
read in the books that the beavers
built dams for the purpose of making
swimming and fishing pond. After
began taking an interest in beavers |
found that the book explanation was as
ridiculous as IL was lacking in fact
| found THAT the beaver does not eat
fish or flesh of any kind, but subsists
which are plentiful during The slnnme.
but cease to provide nutritious or hun
ser-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 thar these substances submerged
in mater will keep green. fresh ana
nutritious ali winter long. 50 ne selects
a spot where this food grows abundant
near the shores and dams The stream
50 that the water will be flooded back
over the young willows and aspens aud
| cottonwoods ana held there. Thus tn
bark on them is kept soft. juicy ana
tender and the beaver has his store OF
nutritious food 10 draw upon all win
ter long. If there is no growth of such
woods convenient for Overlooking, the
beaver cuts down willows, cottonw 1ods
or aspens-the cottonwood being the
favorite-tloats them to the dam. sinks
them to the bottom. fixes them there
below the freezing depth and they
keep as fresh and tender as if they
We're growing on the banks and quick
ened by the spring sunshine and rains
LAS to the colony of beavers that first
attracted my attention | watched it al
it's dam building. in the course Of
which the beavers chopped down A
good many cedar trees.
That was all very interesting ana
| instructive. hut it wasn't profitable 20
| the owner of the timber. whose agent
| / was. and. as my chief duty was the
quest of timber thieves, l concluded
| that here were some we'll worth look
| ing after. and | resolved to Break up
that colony without delay. BY inquiry
among the trappers / learned some
| thing about how they Went to work to
| trap beavers. and l set five traps in
| that colony point. l caught a beaver
| in every trap seven consecutive nights.
and the last beaver | caught was the
| big white one. j sold the abino TO an
! English tourist for $40 in gold.
The share | took in the work of de-
popuiating the Northwest of the beaver
| after that was considera BILE. but when
| ! got into the cattle business | was
| sorry. and would gladly have given
| back every dollar | received for their
| pelts, for / found that. although the
| beaver wasn't worth as much as a fat
| steer in money. there wasn't cat tie
| man in Montana that wouldn't give up
! the best steer in his herd to save the
| life of a beaver any day in the year,
| just because the beavers were dam
| builders. That wonderful instinct Of
| the beaver didn't interest the ranch
| men in their anxiety to protect the
| beaver. But water was constant
necessity on the cattle trails, in the
| dry climate of Montana especially
where the streams and water holes are
| few and far between. There were
| more beavers in Montana--and there
are yet perhaps-than anywhere else in
the United States BY building their
dams wherever they might they caused
| the water supply to be boarded as x
| could be in no other way. That JUST
| suited the cattlemen. and to this day.
While any other game or fur bearing
animal may be eXtermnated without a
dissenting voice from them the beaver
! is assured of the friendship and pro-
| lection of the ranchmen."