The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-09-02

he has been remarkably busy in the
construction CT dam and snug winter
quarters. the work in some places be-
ing of such magnitude and so cleverly
done that people have Travelled miles TO
see and admire it. AT Caribou colony
of beavers built fine, large dam, and
were just completing their houses
when some miscreant destroyed the en-
tire works and killed many of the ami
mails by the explosion of heavy
charge of dynamite In the stream. The
beavers that survived were neither
alarmed nor discouraged, however, but
set Immediately to work rebuilding the
dam and the little houses, SO that in a
few weeks the colony was better pre-
pqrea than before for the long siege of
winter ,-...ia.,a.5 {, aa a>esr,.t ~, s.a2a.r..,.
The townspeople were enraged at the
destruction Of the dam and have o.:
fered rewards for the detection Of the
men who exploded the dynamite, while
several citizens have gone SO far as to
threaten to shoot the first man caught
iniuring or interfering in any way with
garded with affection by all the people
there.
PECULIAR TO NORTH AMERICA.
An Aroostook County man, who has
spent his life in the woods and knows
all about beavers, speaks thus interest
ingly of the little animals: The beaver
is a native OF North America. In some
other countries there are animals that
resemble them. but their numbers are
limited and their works are insigniii-
cant compared with those Of the Amer
lean beaver. All over this country,
from the great lakes to the Gulf of
Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, the works of the beaver are
found. the little animals still existing
in many States. They are very pro-
life, and if undistlrbed by their natural
enemy-man-their numbers increase
very rapidly.
THE red man was. and is yet. the
greatest enemy of the beaver. The In
dians believe that the flesh OF the beav-
er. when cooked and eaten. will proiong g
life, and they will go long distances to
hunt the animals. The white hunter
comes next, and kills vast numbers
every year for the fur. When undis-
turbed in n wooded country the ami
mails multiply rapidly and build so
many dams that the timber on large
tracts of land is killed by the overflow
Of water thus caused.
o Il 3" "
"Thirty. years ago the United States
Government removed the Bad Water
Indians, who then resided in the north
ern part of Michigan. to a reservation
in the Far West. Seven years after
ward travelled over their cd hunting
grounds with q surveying party and
was surprised to see the destruction
that had been caused by beavers il
the big timber all through that section.
ENEMY OF THE ZIMMERMAN.
"The lumbermen hate beavers, and
am told that n movement is now being
made by the land owners in Maine to
have them destroyed. They not only
kill the growing timber. but their dams
obstruct the streams and brooks down
which the logs are driven. l have
helped to cut away the dams and clear
away the houses that obstructcd some
streams, and, returning three weeks
later, found the dams and houses re-
built. and the streams again full of
brush.
1.-THE dams and houses are built OF
mud, sticks, stones and the green
branches of trees. The beavers do not
use their tails for trowels. as some
would have us believe; the mud is car
rled between the chin and paws. They
cannot make stick lie"at the bottom
of pond unless they load it with
stones and mud, and then it often gets
away from them, aud comes to the
surface again. They cannot make
trees fall in any direction they choose,
but as most of the trees along the
bank lean toward the stream they viii
paturally fall into the water when
gnawed Off ~'ss.'''' !,.fGgg ~ '.',7'r--
DESTROY DAMS BEFORE MOVING
Neither do the beavers live In one
place always. When the white birch,
willow and other trees on which they
feed begin to get scarce the colony,
after tearing a hole in the dam. will
dlsband. This always happens in the
spring time. One visiting the deserted
works will see the bottom of the empty
pond covered with short peeled sticks.
and the round hole In each house. near
the bottom of the stream, that was
used for door. Go along up stream
and you will see several holes in the
bank in which the beaver hides when
his village is attacked and the houses
destroyed: The entrance to this hole
is always under water, If the dam is
intact but II you take the pains TO
follow it up you will find that it ter
inmates beneath some large tree, near
the surface of the ground. Here In
summer the young beavers are born.
and not in the houses, as some writer's
tell us.
THEIR WINTER RESIDENCE.
"When autumn draws near the beav-
ers migrate, generally up stream, to
some convenient spot and q new dam
and houses are rapidly constructed.
The trees along the bank are felled.
and huge piles of wood arc heaped up
before the doors of the houses, Always
under water. The houses are built
from the bottom, and rise above the