160 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



dives from the surface, to understand its aquatic use. Espe- 

 cially is its full width and steering power taxed to the Km t 

 as the beaver swims, tug-like, by the side of a pole or log" 

 that it is towing to the house, dam cr food cache, with only 

 the tail thrown out sideways to keep the swimmer from 

 progressing in circles. On land the tail has other uses, 

 but in the water it serves variously as rudder, propeller, 

 and signal gun, its loud slaps on the surface of the water 

 serving as warnings to friends or enemies. 



"In diving, beavers swim downward or in any direction 

 under water. They swim long distances, half a mile or 

 more, without appearing at the surface and commonly re- 

 main submerged four or five minutes at a time, but much 

 longer if alarmed." 



While beavers are powerful, graceful and easy swim- 

 mers, they ordinarily do not progress rapidly through the 

 water, preferring to paddle with their large, webbed hind 

 feet while the front feet are held motionless to their breasts. 

 However, when alarmed they can swim under the water 

 with the speed of an otter, "and with a somewhat similar 

 undulatory motion of body and tail, an appendage that 

 appears to be as effective as a high-speed propeller," Bailey 

 found. 



The beaver has been famed the world over for its ability 

 as a woodcutter and as a house and dam builder, but this 

 animal is not endowed with the intelligence ascribed to it 

 by many of the early writers. However, it is an expert 

 among the mammals in damming up streams to obtain a 

 higher water level; it can gnaw through a tree trunk and 

 fell a sapling, although it does not possess the ability to 

 cause a tree to fall in a certain predetermined direction, 

 the tree falling in the direction it happens to be leaning, 

 which, when growing by the side of a stream, is generally 

 in the direction of the water. 



In Louisiana the beavers do not seem to confine their 

 food to poplars and cottonwoods, which are the favorite 

 foods in the north, but exercise their incisors on a large 

 and varied menu. When attacking a tree for food the 



