Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-12-30

Il
| whose rich surface soil was spread
upon them by the activities of beaver
throughout untold generations.
The majority Of dams are made of
slender green poles, which are placed
lengthwise with the flow for the bot
tom, and set braced with the end up
stream a foot or so higher than the
downstream end. With these there are
occasionally used small limby trees.
The large end of the tree is placed up
stream and the small bushy end down.
stream.
If in a current, these sometimes are
weighted down with mud and stones.
Short, stout sticks and long slender
poles are deftly mingled in the dam as
it rises. The poles overlie and many
completed dams inclined, half-closed
sheers and compasses Of poles. Thus a
dam is doubly braced. The weight
against it is resisted both by the end
on poles that are parallel to the flow
and by those set at an angle to it.
Beaver houses that are built in a
pond usually stand in three or four feet
of water The foundation is laid on the
bottom Of the pond, of the size intended
for the house, and built up solid mass
to a few inches above water level. This
island-like foundation is covered with
crude hemisphere or dome-shaped
house, the central portion Of the founda-
tion forming the floor of the low-vault-
ed 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 pill
ing in the center of the floor of two
foot mound of mud.
Over this is placed a somewhat flat
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 sup
port The beaver then covers his
framework with two or three feet of
mud, brush and turf, and thus make
the walls and the roof of the house
When the outer part of the house Is
completed, they dig an inclined passage
way, from the bottom of the pond up
through the foundation, into the irreg-
ular space left between the supporting
pile of mud and the walls. And Of this
space they shape room by clawing
out the temporary support and gnaw-
ing off the intruding sticks. This rep
resents the most highly developed type
of beaver house.
The room is from one to three feet
high and from three to twenty feet
across. The room is kind Of burrow
and is without either door or window.
Half buried sticks make a compare
lively dry floor, despite the fact that 1t
is only a few inches above water lev
ell.
In many localities the canals or
bitches dug and used by the beaver
form their most necessary and exten-
sive works. These canals require
enormous labor and much skill. In
point of interest they even excel the
house and the dam. 1t is remarkable
that the thousands of stories concern
ing the beaver only few have men
toned the beaver canals. These are
labor saving improvements, and not
only enable the beaver to live easily
and safely in places where he other
wise could not live at all, but appar-
emily 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 en-
deavors to lead water out to tree
groves by digging a canal from the
edge of the pond to these groves. The
felled trees are by this means easily
fioated into the pond. One Of the SIM
plest forms of beaver canal is a mar
row, outward extension of the pond.
This varies in length from a few yards
to 100 feet or more.
Another and fairly common form of
canal is one that is built across low,
narrow necks of land which thrust out
into large beaver bonds, or on narrow
stretches of land around which crooked
streams wander.
The green wood which the beaver
uses for his winter food supply is stor-
ed 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 it 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 it becomes water-logged and
sinks in a short time; however, the
first pieces stored are commonly 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 consist of entire trees, limbs
and all. These usually are placed in
rude circle, with butts inward and tops
outward. This forms an entangling
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 where slender poles
abound it is rare for anything to be cut
of more than inches. But it is not
uncommon to see trees felled that are
from IL to Is 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