The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-10-28
WORK OF THE BEAVER
Feats Performed by This Indus.
triOus Little Worker.
A cLEvER AOUsE BIIADER

ID q Small E4aystael, and He Can
Cue Down Bin Trees With He Teeth.
Almost every one knows something
about the beaver and that It builds
dams and houses 10 dwell In. but very
few people have seen beavers IN their
wild state II IA also fact that the
race o. industrious little workers u
rapidly disappearing, IN tho older dia.
trlcta beavers generally live m the
banks 0f tho streams they lnhablt, and
tho sight of beaver house a uneom-
mon.
Where beavers DO build houses. saya
Forest and Stream. the structurea dif.
fer greatly In size. shape and location.
Some are as large though Of course
less high, than a small haystack: 9th.
ers ARE hardly more than six feet
through at the base They may stand
either wholly on land OF partly III the
water and partly On the bank or Who'll
ly ID the water.
They are mover placed In very deep
water. for d base must bo built for the
house to stand on reaching up to the
surface, since the chamber inhabited
by the occupants must be dry.
The shape Of those houses on the
shore approaches the conlcal, Those In
the water are more irregular. some
times only rounded, at others long and
rather llet on top.
Within each house aud connected
with the water BY a concealed passage
through which the beavers pass TO and
fro Is the chamber which Is The ani,
mails dwelling place
1t Is large enough to contain seven or
eight Of them and high enough 30 that
a beaver can conveniently sit up on his
launches. II Is warm. dry and clean.
for the beaver Il extremely neat III all
hls habits.
The food Of tho beaver consists
chiefly Of the green bark Of twigs and
young limbs OF various trees. Cotton.
wood bark Is preferred; then comes
willow. then alder. but the bark Of
almost any tree may be eaten,
have known them 10 eat pine and
white cedar. The beaver often cuts
down trees of very considerable sire 10
get at the smaller limbs. which they
eat.
t,a,o s,y.y, N n,tt,,,,.,r,..es e,...A..s..
inches in diameter 50 cut and once on
Vancouver island found a cedar two
and one-half feet through which they
had gnawed down
The work Of cutting down n large
tree b done by a single animal.
have seen the beaver engaged IN the
operation. which Is as follows: The
beaver sita up on bis launches facing
the tree and with IT'S fore paws rcss-
Ing against It. With rs head turned
on one side he cuts a groove above
and then one below and bites out the
chin taking It OF IN almost the same
way an axman would
He thus saves himself the trouble
Of gunwing all the wood up into fine
cuttings. When the tree Is feIIed the
whole community attack and cut 0p
the tender limbs. carrying them away
to the cache,
Unlike many OF our gnawing ami.
mails, the beayer does not sleep through
the winter. He remains active. often
veniuring abroad during the whole OF
the cold weather He must, therefore,
have food, and a large part Of the
and autumn Is devoted to sc-
curing this food and depositing II In
caches This food consists of the
limbs aud twigs of the trees most pre-
ferred by the beaver
They are cut from one and half
to three feet long, stripped OF their
leaves and smaller twies, carried to
the water and aoated to the cache,
where they are sunk And here comes
a very curious point.
These sticks are Hoated to the cache
and are sunk by the beaver to the bot.
tom Of the water, where they remain
without any apparent anchorage They \
are not stuck In the mud Of the bot.
tom or held down by weights. Ii
yo1 lift one to the surface Il will
doat, but you may move It about oi,
the bottom without its rising.
have myself tried this with sticks
from which the bark has been eateH
but have never done SO with the green
unpeeled limbs before the beavers hal
taken them into their houses. This
matter to me Is very mysterious one.
md ! have never been able to get uny
hint as to how these sticks were sunk
All through the winter the beavers
visit these caches, carry the sticks 10
their houses, where they eat Off the.
bark, returning the bare sticks to the
water
Sometimes i may happen tllat fnrsl
some reason or other the cache may
not contain enough 70 last the whole
winter. - this case the beavers. II
possible, get on land through some nr
iole Or piece Of open water and then
'orage among the timber Occaslonal
y a combination Of scarcity and severe
weather may obllge the colony to eml.
yrate during the winter to some more
'ayorable spot.
ccurting Trouble.
LOOK here" said the official. .there1I
We trouble II your wife dlsreDards IL