Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1913-01-31
Continued next week.
THE BEAVER AND ITS CHARAC-
TERISTICS.
Danger of the Early Extinction of
These Animals.

The announcement that a family of
beaver has made its appearance near
Ausable makes of timely interest to peo-
pie in this region the following descrip-
ton of the animal:
The beaver, scientifically known as
Castor Canadenis, is the largest of the
fur-bearing rodents. Perhaps no animal
in the world has been more widely util-
lied, for as a protection from cold the
use of its pelt dates to primitive man.
The rarest peltage is pure white, fawn
and brown sprinkled with silvery hair.
Less than a score of such pelts have
been found in an expectation of 100, 600
skins. Black beavers are more abund-
ant. Generally the color ranges from
pale yellowish-brown to chestnut. The
body measures from II inches to three
and a half feet in length and the paddle
shaped tail, covered with scale, is
from nine to II inches in length.
The external features of the beaver
are among its chief characteristics, be-
ginning with its wonderful teeth and
ending with its perfectly unique tail.
The incisor teeth are strong and well
developed, and are set in a circular
socket. The sharp teeth were used as
cutting instruments by the Indians,
who attach much value to the white
skins, converting them into medicine
bags.
The beavers head resembles that of a
rat, though the nose is fatter and makes
the head appear shorter and broader.
The eyes are dark blue and small in pro-
portion to the size of the animal. They
are highly conveXed, thus enabling the
animal to use them under water. The
ears are small, quite round, and con-
cealed in the fur and hair. When the
peltage is prime, a shaggy, loose growth
of long hair covers the head and body
to the base of the tail, diminishing on
the lips, eyelids, feet and legs.
The anterior feet are so deXterous as
to favor comparison with the hands of
the monkey. The crea ture uses them
in building the dam and the lodge and
for ~eXcavating the burrow. They are
also used to convey the food to the
mouth in a truly astonishing manner.
Though the front feet are not usually
employed in swimming, there is a per-
ceptible web joining the third and fourth
digits, which does not seem fitted for
any apparent purpose, unless it might
be to facilitate the handling of mud in
the plastering of the lodges or dams.
The powerful hind feet, with the de-
velopment of web extending to the eX-
IRENE points, afford the ideal model for
aquatic life. The large heel-pad and
strong nails enable the animal when on
land to stand upright firmly, a position
generally assumed when at work, On
the second toe there is a most remark
able double claw or nail, which appar-
emily is only used for combing the fur.
The gait of the beaver is waddling and
/ slow, owing to the shortness of its limbs
and to the outward direction which is
given to its heels to enable its feet more
efficiently to fulfill the function of pad,
dies in swimming. The toes alone of
the anterior feet and surface of the sole
in the posterior are applied to the
ground in walking.
The a%kwardness of its appearance in
this action is, moreover, heightened by
the clumsiness of its figure and by the
difficulty which it seems to experience
in dragging after it its cumbrous tail,
generally trailing upon the ground
though sometimes is slightly curved up
ward, and is occasionally moved in a
direction from side to side. In the water
however, this member becomes highly