The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-05-02
HOMES OF THE BEAVERS.
FAST DISAPPEARING BEFORE THE
VANGUARD or CIVILIZATION

fore the barbarian vanguard Of civil
lization. From a common ana widely
distributed animal, he has become
rare and local, and In most parts OF
The United States he rs already but a
faint memory. kept alive by such
names as Beaver Falls, Beaver Dam
and Beaver Brook, given to places
which he formerly inhabited His
beautiful fur coat was coveted by
man, and according TO the universal
law Of nature he died because 1t was
C. the immediate interest of a more
powerful animal to kin him. Per
haps he has fulfilled his mission; &C
any rate, few animals have lone more
toward forming tne contour of the
country. Wherever he has been he
has left lasting monuments to his in
lustry In the form of meadows, ponds
and waterfalls, and his name will al
ways be associated with peaceful, in
telligent labor.
In appearance, the beaver reminds
us somewhat of a muskrat and some,
what Of a woodchuck, though he is
larger than either of them. In length
he measures something over two feet,
from the tip of his blunt nose to the
root Of his tail. His body is roughly
cone-shaped, being largest in the rear,
and covered with the rich, shining fur,
which is at once ms wealth and his
death warrant. This fur is of two
kinds, one composed of long, coarse,
glossy chestnut hair, which is short,
thick, soft and silky. The nose Of the
animal is blunt, the eyes small, and
the ears short AM rounded. The fore
feet are short and slender, but the
hind feet are large and web-bed to
the toe nails. The former serve the
animal in place of hands, while the
letter are the propellers which urge
MIN through the water. But the most
peculiar part of a beavers anatomy
is his tail This appendage is fat
and broad, and it's horizontal outline
is almost a perfect eclipse, about
foot long AMI three AMI a half inches
wide. 1t is about an inch thick and
covered with angular scales. 1t is
used by the beaver as a .rulder to
guide him while swimming, not as
tray on which to carry building mate
rails, nor as a trowel to plaster the
( walls of his dwelling, as some old
! writer's would have us believe. The
/ beaver also uses it to slap the water
as signal to his companions when
there is danger in the wind.
The heave7''~ ohi~e +i4la N dieliro-
ton rests on his ability as an engi-
nser winch IS poIAaps duD 4ua4leu u
any other four-footed creature When
a colony of beavers take possession of
a body Of water, usually a small, clear
river or brook, they first of all make
a dam, which throws the water back,
flooding the surrounding land AMI
creating a pond, the site of future
beaver city. The dam is made of mud
small stones, moss grass and the
branches of trees which have been
cut down by the sharp and powerful
incisor teeth Of the beavers The
branches form the frame work of the
dam, and the mud, stones, moss and
grass are plastered in between the
sticks. forming a strong water-tight
structure. Such a dam is sometimes
eight feet high AMI almost quarter
of mile in length extending far be-
ycnd the original banks of the stream.
1t is perhaps ten or twelve feet wide
at the bottom, but much narrower at
the top, as tae sides slope toward each
other.
In the pond thus formed the beav-
ers make their lodges or houses, great
dome-shaped structures, six or eight
feet high, AMI some of them from
twelve to twenty feet in circumfer-
ence The doorways are under tne
water, and in front of each the beav-
ers scratch away the mud, forming a
deeper channel that they may sink
the wood intended for winter food
without danger of its being frozen in,
and that they may pass freely in and
out, even when the ice is thick upon
the pond. The tops of the houses are
made of branches matted together and
plastered with mud and moss. and
when this is all frozen together il
forms an almost impregnable fortress
Sometimes as many as ten or twelve
beavers occupy a single lodge, each
with a separate bed near the walls
and each sharing the laborious worl
which is necessary to the welfare o.
every beaver community When al
accident happens to a dam or to one
of the houses, the little animals ar,
+ quick to repairit, realizing, apparently
, the value of "a stitch in time" Hunt
ers used to take advantage of tbei