The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-16

deftly mingled in the dam as it rises.
The poles overlie and many completed
dams inclined. half-closed shears and
compasses of poles. Thus dam is doubly
braced. The weight against 1t is resisted
both by the end-on poles that are parallel
to the flow and by those set at an angle
to it.
Build Houses in Ponds
Beaver houses that are built III a pond
usually stand in three or four feet of
water. The foundation is aid on the
bottom of the pond, of the size intended
for the house, and built up solid mass
to few inches above the wateR level.
This isiand-like foundation Is covered
with q crude hemisphere of dome shaped
house, the central portion of the founda-
ton forming floor of the low-vaulted
room which is inclosed by the thick
house walls. In building the house the
beaver provides a temporary support for
the combined roof and walls by piling in
the center of the floor of a two-foot
mound of mud.
Over this is placed a somewhat fat
tened tepee or cone-shaped frame of
sticks and small poles. These stand on
the outer part of the foundation and lean
inward with upper ends meeting against
and above the temporary support. The
beaver then covers the framework with
two or three feet of mud, brush and turf,
and thus makes the walls and the roof OF
the house. When the outer part of the
house is completed they dig an inclined
passageWay, from the bottom of the pond
up through the foundation, into the ir-
regular space left between the support
ing pile of mud and the walls. And of
this space they shape room by clawing
out the temporary support and gnawing
off the intruding sticks. This represents
the most highly developed type of beaver
house.
The room is from one to three feet
| high and from three to 20 feet across
The room is a kind of burrow and without
| either door or window. Half buried sticks
make a comparatively dry floor, despite
the fact that it is only a few inches
above water level.
| In many localities the canals or bitches
| dug and used by the beaver form their
most necessary and extensive works
These canals require enormous labor and
much skill. In point of interest they even
excel the house and the DAM 1t is re-
markable that of the thousands of stories
concerning the beaver only a few have
mentioned the beaver canals. These are
labor-saving improvements, and not only
enable the beaver to live easily and safe
ly in places where he otherwise could
not live at all, but apparently they allow
him to live happily.
In transporting trees for food supply,
water transportation is so much easier
and safer than land that wherever the
immediate surroundings of the pond are
comparatively level the beaver endeavors
to lead water out to tree groves by dig
ging a canal from. the edge of the pond
TO these groves. The felled trees are bv
this means easily floated into the pond.
One OF the simplest forms of beaver canal
is narrow outward extension Of the
pond. This varies in length from few
yards to 100 feet or more.
Another and fairly common form of
canal is one that is built across low, mar
row necks of land which thrust out into
large beaver ponds or on narrow
stretches OF land around which crooked
streams wander.
The green wood which the beaver uses
for his winter food supply is stored In the
bottom OF the pond. How does he sink. it
to the bottom? There is an old and Oft
repeated tale which says that the beaver
sucks the air from the green wood SO as
TO sink it promptly. Another tale has it
that the beaver dives to the bottom,
carrying with him a green stick, which
he thrusts into the mud, and 1t is thus
anchored.
Apparently the method is a simple one.
The green wood stored is almost as heavy
as water. and once in the pond 1t becomes
water-iogged and sinks in a short time:
however, the first pieces stored are COM
monty large, heavy chunks, which are
forced to the bottom by piling others on
top of them. Frequently the first few
pieces of the food pile consists of entire
trees. limbs and all. These usually are
placed in rude circle, with butts inward
and tops outward This forms an entang-
ling foundation which holds in place the
smaller stuff piled thereon.
Apparently beavers prefer to cut trees
that are less than six inches in diameter,
and whore slender poles abound it is rare
for anything to be cut OF more than four
inches. But it is not uncommon to see
trees felled that are from IL to 15 inches
in diameter. In my possession are three
beaver-cut stumps. each OF which has
a greater diameter than IS inches, the
largest being "a inches. The largest
beaver-cut stump that have ever meas