156 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



quite certain that the Louisiana beaver does not differ 

 materially in habits from the beaver found elsewhere on 

 the North American continent. 



In the fur history of the new world, the beaver holds 

 first place. The beaver trade has had a great deal to do 

 with the development of our country, and in the adventure 

 and pioneering of the early days, it occupies a niche that 

 will never be filled by another animal. 



"Originally beavers inhabited the greater part of North 

 America/' writes Dr. Bailey, "and at one time produced fur 

 of greater value than that of any other fur-bearing animal 

 of the continent. They were to the native people an impor- 

 tant source of food and warm clothing, and the beaver skin 

 became a unit of barter with the Indians. Beaver fur soon 

 attracted white traders and trappers, and traffic in the 

 skins became an important commercial factor in promoting 

 the early settlement of the country. Through the gener- 

 ations of intensive trapping that followed, beavers were 

 greatly reduced in numbers and restricted in range, until 

 now they have been exterminated over much of their former 

 area." 



The beaver belongs to the extensive and important 

 rodent family, three members of which have been long 

 noted for their value to the fur trade, , i. e., the beaver, 

 which is the largest of the three, the muskrat, which is 

 the smallest, and the coypu (pronounced koy'poo), a South 

 American rodent, intermediate in size between the beaver 

 and the muskrat, which produces the fur known as nutria. 



The beaver is a compact, heavily-bodied mammal that 

 is as aquatic as the muskrat and the coypu. Its pelage is a 

 dense coat of fine, soft, waterproof underfur, overlain by 

 coarse guard hairs. The soft underfur is brownish in 

 color, varying from yellowish to a brownish black, while 

 the guard hairs are either light brown or a rich dark chest- 

 nut in color. 



The most characteristic thing about a beaver is its 

 broadly-flattened, hairless tail, the use of which for hun- 

 dreds of years has been the source of much speculation and 

 has given rise to many odd folk tales. Like the muskrat, 



