The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-06

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Tnsm for wiStss.

A man Who watched Q colony Of beavers
get I'm thsir winter harvest cells In Rseyea-
tion Just how they did IL. IL was tbs
Spruce Tree colony. one Of sixteen beaver
municipalities IN the slope OF Long 9
Peak i'm the Colorado Rockies.
Aspen bark is the fAvorire food Of the
North American beaver w::h willow.
cottonw God. alder and birch as lesser
favorites. This was an old beaver SCI
flsment and they had about cleaned APP
all the nearby growths OF aspen.
The investigator examined other aspen
supplies in tho nsghborhood. also the
beavers lines of transportation. run
ways. canals and ponds, and decided chat
this years harvest would be brought
from a grove about a quarter OF mile
from the main house and ahou, 100 feet
above il.
in this grove" he says. i cut three
notches in the trunks OF several trees.
Then | explored the colony grounds
W ich occupied several acres in q terraced
steep slope Of a mountain moraine. Here
they had several ponds with dams an
falls The entire place Was pierced with
passa gew avs aud tunnels The water
from all the terraces was gathered in a
pond AZ the bottom measuring 900 feet in
circumference les dam was feet high.
900 feet long and very crooked. In It's
upper edge stood the main house which
was = feet high and 20 feet IN circum-
ference
Forty eight hours after had notch cd
the trees ! returned 70 investigate. Har-
vest had begun, One OF the lar gsst Of the
notched trees had been felled and re-
moved. The gnawed stump was Sinches
in diameter The limbs had been trimmed
of and a number Of these lay scattered
around ,he stump. The IS fopt trunk
had been cut into lengths Of from TO
o feet. then these little logs were started
toward the harvest pile
From the spo, where cut the logs
were evidently rolled down a steep. grassy
seventy foot slope. AT the bottom OF this
dragged an equal distance over a level
stretch among some lodgepole pines
and then pushed or dragged along a
narrow runway that had been cut through
a rank growth OF willows. Once through
the willows they were pushed into the
uppermost pond
Across this they were taken. forced
over The dam on the opposite side and
SHOT uoWn a silue INTO ffle IOnU WHICH
contained the smaller house. II was
good work To have got them so quickly
to this place. But no logs could bs found
by rhe house or in the pond. The folks
Of this place had no, yet laid up any
thing for winter.
-On tho opposite side 81 this pond
found where the logs had been dra gged
across the broad dam and then heaved
intA a long wet slide which landed them
IN q small. shallow harbor in the grass.
From this point canal abouf eighty
feet long ran around the brow OF the
terrace and ended over the top Of long
slide which reached to TIA. big pond.
This canal was new and probably
had been dug especially for this harvest
For SIXTY feet Of it, length il was quite
regular in form and had an average
width ~ thirty inches and depth of
fourteen The mud dug IN making II
was piled evenly along the lower side.
Altogether II looked more like the work
Of "A careful man with shovel than of
beaver without tools.
Seepage and overflow water from the
ponds above filed and flowed slowly
through IL and out at the further end.
where II swept down the long slide into
the big pond. Through this canal the
logs had been taken one by one. At the
further end found the largest log. II
probably had been too heavy to heave
out q the canal; tracks in tine mud Indicated
that there was a hard tussls before IL
was abandoned.
Close tn tn. big house few aspen
leaves duttersd on twigs in the water.
Evidently some large pieces " aspen were
sunk beneath the pile Of winter supplies
was started. ] wadsd out into the water.
prodded around with pole and found
several small logs D gging one Of
these IN the surface. ! found there were
three notches on ii.
Scores ~ aspeus were felled in the
grove where the notrhed ones were They
were trimmed. cut into sections and
limbs. logs and all taken over the route
OF the one ] had followed and M last
placed in a pile beside the big house
This harvest gathering went on for a
month. IN" average diameter OF the
aspens cut was four and one-hah inches
~ IN" top 81 IN. stump. Numerous 90 ed
lings Of an inch diameter were cut and the
largest Tree f.llad for this harvest meas
ured fourt sen inches across tn. stump
This had been laid low only few hours
before found IL. and a b,Ishel of white
chips and cuttings encircied the lifeIess
stump like "A wreath. In IN ling the top
had become entangled in an alder thicket
and lodged six feet from the. ground
u remained in this position for several
days and was apparently abandoned:
but the last time | went to see. IL the lrsers
which upheld i We're being cut away.
Although the alders wer. thick upon tbs,
ground only thos" which had upheld
the aspen had been cut II NAV he that
tn" beaver which fell"ti them looked and
Thought before they went ahead with IN.
cutting.
Why had this and several other large
aspens been left uncut in a place where,
all were convenient for harvest All
other neighboring asp-ns were cut wears
ago. One explanation ia that the beaver
realized that the tops ~ the asp-ns were
entangled and inferlocked in tho limbs
OF crowdIng spr,icss and would not fall
IL cut on at the bottom. This and one
other were 'he only large ones that wer.
felied: the tops Of these had been recen,ly
released by the ov-rturning " SOM.
sprnces and tho breaking OF several
branches on others Other sratt.red
larg. aspens were left uncut. hun ali IN
ths-se were clasped IN the arms II nearby
spruces.
1T Was the habit OF these colonial. ,o
transfer tree 10 the harvest pile promptly
after cutting IL down. But one morning
] found logs on slides. in canals and nm
finished work IN the grove. as though
everything had been sudrienly droppcd
In the night when work was az ite height