The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-10
THE BEAVER IN WINTER.
His Curious Method OF Using the Same
Air Over Again.
Rod and Gun.

Rod and Gun.
The beaver is really a sort Of portable
pulp mill, grinding up most any kind of
wood that comes his way. 1 once measured
a white birch tree, twenty-five inches
through, cut down by a beaver. a single
beaver generally. if not always, amputates
the tree. and when it comes down the
whole family fall to and have a regular
frolic with the bark and branches. a big
beaver will bring down a fair-sized sap
pling-say three inches t~hrough-in about
two minutes, and a large tree in about an
hour.
One Of the queerest facts about the
beaver is the rapidity with which his long,
chisel-shaped teeth recover from an in
jury. 1 have known beavers to break their
teeth in biting a trap. and when 1 caught
them again, ten days a~fterward, you
couldn't see a sign of the ~break-the teeth
had grown out to their former perfection
in that short period.
AS compared with the otter or mink the
beaver is a very slow swimmer. His front
legs hang by his sides, and he uses only his
webbed hind feet for purposes Of swim
ming. 1t is easy to capture one in a canoe
If you can find him in shoal water. He is
a most determined fighter, but clumsy and
easy to handle. If he could get hold of you
with his teeth he would almost take a leg
on, so you want TO watch him sharply.
The place TO grab him is by the tail.
The ability of a beaver TO remain under
water for a long time is really not so tough
a problem as it looks. When the lake or
pond is frozen over a beaver will come to
the under surface of the ice and expel his
breath, so that ii will form a wide, fiat
bubble. The air. coming in contact with
the Ice and water. is nurifp0 and the hoa-
yer breathes II again. This operation he
can repeat several times. The otter and
muskrat DO the same thing.
II almost takes a burglar-proOf safe TO
hold a newly captured beaver. l once
caught an old one and two kittens up the
north branch of the SOu-NNeSt, put them in
a barrel, and brought them down TO Mir
amichi lake. That night she gnawed a
hole through the barrel and cleared out,
leaving her kittens. They were so young
that / had no way OF feeding them, so L
released them in the hope that the mother
might find them. Soon after that / caught
for him OF dry spruce. but the second night
he cut a log and disappeared.
Beavers when alarmed generally make UP
stream, so | went TO the brook where a
little branch came in. and 1 thought 1
would go up that a little way, and l hadn't
gone more than ten rods before / came
across my lad sitting up in the bed of the
brook having a lunch on a stick he had
cut. He actually ook as II he knew he
was playing truant when he caught sight
of me out Of the side of his eye.
l picked him up by the tail, brought him
back. put him in the pen, supplied him
with plenty of fresh poplar. and he seemed
as tame as possible and never gave me
any more rou6l l brought him out TO
Stanley. where he lived a long time. Turn
bull had a mOngrel dog. which was jealous
OF the beaver. and one day attacked him.
he did that only once, for the beaver
nipped the dogs tail off Quicker'n a cat
WDIIU GafGn a mouse