The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-08-21
ODD WAYS OF THE BEAVER.
How He Manages 10 Stay Under Water
50 Long In Winter.

| oP l<SHb III W NlHlsTs
The current number OF ROD and Cur
In Canada has an article on the habit
OF the beaver, In wh!,h the writer
Frank II. Rlsten. tells some interest.
Ing things db)ut ,aht mos, interesting
Of North American animals or The
cutting power Of the beavers teeth the
writer says:
The beaver Is really a sort OF port
able pulp nil, grinding up most any
kind Of wood thar comes his way.
once measured a white birch tree, ;w.n-
ty-tw1 inches through. cut down by a
beaver A single beaver generally. II
not always, ampu.ates the tree. and
when It comes down the whole family
fall 10 and have a regular trOllc with
the bark ana branches. A big HEAVIER
Will bring down a falr-azed slpliag. say
lhree inches through. In abou, two min
utes. and a large tree In about an nour.
zone Of the queerest facts about the
beaver Is the rapidly with which his
long, chisei-shiped teeth will recover
from an Injury. / have known beavers
70 break their teeth in biting a trap,
and when ! caught them again ten days
afIerward YOU couldn't see a sign of0
the break-the teeth had grown out to
their former perfection In tha; short
period"
Mr. Rlsten's experiences have not CIV
en- him a very high opinion OF the beav-
er's swimming powers. He writes:
AS comapsri with the otter or mink
The beaver Is A very slow swimmer. His
from; legs hang by his sides. and he uses
olly his webbed hind feet Cor purposes
cf swimming. Il Is easy to cfp,ure one
In canoe II you can find him In shOal
water. He Is a most determined fighter
but clumsy and easy to handle. II ne
could sc, hold Of you with his teeth he
would almost take a leg off-so. you
wan. 10 watch him sharp. The place 10
grab him is by the tail"
OF the ability Of the beaver and some
other wild animals and birds to remain
long time under water this writer
says:
The ability OF beaver t5 remain
under water FOR long time Is really not
80 tough a problem as {: looks. When
the lake or pond is frozen over the
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 canning In contac, with the ice and
water is purified, and the beaver
breathes 1t in again. This operation lie
caa repeat several times. The otter and
muskrat DO the same thing.
When the ice is thin and clear have
often seen the muskrat attached TO his
bubble, and by pounding on the ice nave
driven him away from Il. when ne
would drown in very shUr; time.
believe the beaver, as we'll as the loon.
sometimes employs this pneumatic sue
tion principle by breathing INFO the mud
on the bottom and thus remaining under
water for remarkable length Of lime"
That I; is iificul; 10 hold most OF
the shyer fur bearing animals in cap
yivity is known 10 those who have Trade
the experiment. but the beaver evidently,
;akes ithe lead in this respect in Mr..
Ris,en's estimation as the following will
show:
IT almost takes a 5urglar-proof afe-
TO hold a newly captured beaver. l once
caugh; an old one ana Two kittens up
the north branch Of the Sou-West. put
them in a barrel and brought them
down 10 M,ram,chi Lake That night
she gnawed a hole through the barrel
ana cleared out, leaving her kittens
They were - young that l had no way
VI feeding hem, so released them in the
hope that the mother nigh, find them.
Soon after that l caught a big male
beaver, made a large log pen for him
II dry spruce, but the seconl night he
u; a log out and disappeared
Beavers when alarmed generally
make up stream, so I went up the brook
o where a little branch came in and
though; l woud go up that a little
way, ana hadn't gone more than ten
eds before l ran across my lai sitting
lp in the bed Of the brook having a
unch on a stick he had cut. He ac-
ually looked as if he knew he was
,lay.ng ;ruan, when he caughN sight Of
ne out Of the side Of his eye.
Il picked him up by the tail and
brought him back, pu, him in the pen,
applied him with plenty OF fresh pop
ar. and he seemed as tame as possible.
brought him GU; to Stanley where he
ived long time Turnbun had tho
oughbred mongrel dog which was
ealous of the beaver, and one day he
stacked him He only did that cnce
or the beaver nipped the dogs 'aH off
Iuicker'a a cat could catch mouse"
odd WAYS OF MAKING A LIVING,