Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-20
Finds Work for Beaver


Wild animals often destroy the works of
man, but It is very seldom that they repair
the damages caused by time and the ele-
ments, but such an instance, quite remark
able in it's Importance, has been brought
to light this week.
At Phillips upper village in Maine is a
wooden mill, driven by water power. coming
over a large dam in the Sandy river. Re-
Gently this dam has leaked freely, and
though repairs nave been attempted the
task was found so complicated and diff
cult that the dam has never been put In
proper shape by man since the leakage
was first discovered.
Suddenly, however, the leakage stopped,
and an investigation showed that a colony
of beavers had taken up their abode in the
mill pond, pparently coming from further
north on the Sandy river, where these
creatures have been known in past years
to be quite numerous.
All summer there has been a colony of
beavers industriously at work in a pond on
woodland owned by Joel Carlton of this
town, and Mr.. Carlton thinks this may be
the same colony that has now come down
to the lila to live, quite as though
metropolitan life were the proper thing
The colony was discovered by Judson
Pease, superintendent of the wooden mill,
while he was passing through the woods on
the south side of the stream to look over
the dam property. His first intimation that
beavers had been at work there came when
he saw two felled trees, one four inches in
diameter and the other six. On his next trip
over the same route he found more
signs of the same kind, including several
trees that had not been cut down, but
lodged in quite the proper woodsman style,
disproving the popular claim that beavers
never lodge a tree.
Immediately Mr.. Pease dislodged one of
these trees and then he saw where the ami
mails had dragged the trunks of a number
of trees into the mill pond.
Upon advancing toward the shore of the
pond he heard a noisy splashing in the
water which sounded like stones thrown
into the water. Going nearer he plainly saw
two beavers at play. They paid no attention
to their visitor, though they must nave
seen him, for he made no attempt to hide
his movements.
The attention of the operatives in the mill
was called to the play of the two animals,
and the young women watched them from
the upper windows for some time.
1t is believed that when the beavers
came TO the mill pond they decided TO APP
proprlate It to their own use, and discov-
ering the imperfect condition of the dam,
set out at once to repair II, for beavers
are known to be very painstaking in their
work and equally methodloal in their habits.
1t is known that they have not only sunk
many poplar trunks in the mud Just above
the dam. but nav also placed two large
birch tree trunks there,
The cutting down of trees by the beavers
was done a considerable distance from the
pond, the poplars being selected from quite
a dense growth on the sunny side OF a hill,
and evidently having been dragged to the
pond by easy stages.
Beavers have been protected in Maine
since 1906. and are undoubtedly becoming
more tame each year, but that they should
carry their work almost into the heart OF
a busy and growing village Is considered
remArkable.-Boston Herald