Daily camera., 1901-09-24
WAYSOFTHEBEA
Hsv. Hs Manages y Stay Under
Water 80 Le1g IN Winter.
Peevliesatiee % tAs lnaspestinS Little
Anluol Described ~ Ons Whs
Has lgaAs . Study ef
He 00btea.

Canada has an article on the habits of
the beaver, In which the writer, Frank
II. Mstssn. tells some interesting
things about the most interesting Of
North American animals. OF the cut
ting power OF the beavers teeth the
writer says:
The beaver 10 really sort Of port
able pulp mill, grinding up most any
Kind Of wood that comes his way. l
once measured . white birch tree, 20
inches through. cut down BY . beaver.
A single beaver generally. II not Al
ways, amputatss the tree. and when 1t
comes down the whole family fall to
and have . regular frolic with the
bark and branches. A big beaver will
bring down . fsir-sizsd sapling, say
thrse inches through. in about two
minutes. and large tree In about an
hour.
One Of the qussrsst facts about the
beaver 10 the rspidtty with which his
long, chissl-shapsd teeth will recover
from an injury. have known besv-
ers to break their teeth in biting .
trap. and when caught them again
ten days afterward you couldn't see
. sign of the brsak-%he teeth had
grown out TO their former perfection
In that short period"
Nr. hstssn's experiences have not
gwen him . very high opinion Of the
beavers swinming powers. He
writes:
"As compared with the otter or
mink the beaver y very slow swim
msr. His front legs hang BY his sides,
and he uses only his wsbbsd hind feet
for the purpose Of swimming. 1t Is
easy to capture one In . canoe II you
can and him in shoal water. He il .
most determined fighter. but clumsy
and easy 70 handle. II he could get
hold Of you with his teeth he would al
most take . leg o6-so you want to
watch him sharp. The place 70 grab
him il BY the tail"
OF the ability Of the besvar and
some other wild animals and birds TO
remain . long time under water this
writer says:
''The ability Of . beaver to remain
under water for . long time = really
not 90 tough . problem - It looks.
When the lake or pond u frossn over
. beaver will como to the under sur
face Of the Ice and expsi his breath
20 that Il win form . wide. dat bub-
BILE. The air coming In contact with
the Ice and water 10 purified. and the
beaver brssthss II In again. This
operation he can repeat several times,
The otter and musksst do the came
thing"
That II IL dineuit TO hold most Of
the shyer fur-bssrins snimals In cap
tivity - known 70 those who have
made the experiment. but the beaver
evidently takes the lssd In this re-
spect In Mr.. Rstssn's estimation. ~
the following win show:
1T slmoa4 tAkss . burglar-proof
safe to hold . nswly-eaptursd beaver.
l once caught an old one and two kit
tens up the north besneh Of the
Southwest. put them IN barrel and
brought them down 10 xiramiehi
lake. That night she gnawsd . hole
through the barrel and cleared out,
leaving her kittens, They were 90
young that I hsd ns wsy OF feeding
them. eooa sftsr that caught big
male beaver. ] made large log pen
for him Of dry spruce. but the second
night he cut . log ont and dissp-
pssred.
beavers when alarmed generally
make mp stream, - went up the
brook 70 where . httle branch came
In and thought would 60 up that
. little way. and hadn't gone more
than ten rods before I came across
my lad sitting up In the bed Of the
brook having . lunch on stick he
had cut. He actually looked - II he
knew he was playing Huant when
he caught sight Of ne out Of the side
pf Ills eye.
~ picked him up By the TAIL
brought him back. pvt hin u the pen.
supplied him With plenty OF fresh
poplar, and be seemed - tame ~ pos
sible and never gave me any more
trouble. 1 brought him out to stan
ley where he lived long time. Turn
bull had thoroughbred monsrsl dog
which was Jealous Of ~ beaver, and
one day attacked him. He only did
tAst once, Tor tie bseyer nipped the
dogs tail Of quisker.a . cat could
eateA . noHss.