OF THE BEAVER INTO BEITAIJT. 225 



begins a tree and a man handles the cut, it "will be loft for some 

 days ; their sense of smell being very keen, and easily offended. 

 However, some authorities say that beavers work together on a 

 tree, but one finishes the work ; others say that one pair only work 

 on the same tree, and that they work turn and turn about, so that 

 only one works at a time, the little ones helping just to get their 

 teeth in. Indeed it is somewhat startling to find how contradictory 

 the statements about beavers are. Take, for instance, the description 

 of the manner in which they cut down trees. Frank Buckland 

 says (and he refers to Mr. Bartlett's personal observation of the 

 matter) : " Attacking one side, he (the beaver) cuts by the means 

 of his sharp chisel, a regular notch in the tree ; when he has 

 gnawed his notch as deep as he dares into the tree, the cunning 

 fellow will test its stability by standing on his hind legs and pushing 

 the tree to see the degree of firmness of the portion which holds the 

 two pieces of wood together ; but how is he to separate this bit 

 which unites the wood ? he simply leaves off gnawing the big notch 

 he has made ; he then goes to the other side, where the bark and 

 Avood have not been touched at all, and gnaws away until down 

 comes the tree." Arabella Buckley says: "With his teeth he 

 gnaws a deep notch in the trunk, as deep as he dares without fear 

 of its falling, and then going round to the other side he begins 

 work there till the trunk is severed and falls heavily on the side of 

 the deep notch, and therefore away from himself." These accounts 

 seem so clear and simple that one feels disposed to adopt them 

 without question ; but Black disturbs the harmony by remarking 

 that beavers begin to cut at the side opposite to that to which they 

 intend the tree to fall, which is directly contrary to what the others 

 say. Then it does not tend to make the matter more clear when 

 we find another authority (Morgan) saying that the process of 

 cutting is round and round the tree continuously, and that the re- 

 duction is uniform, until it is cut on all sides more than half-way 

 to the centre ; after which the remainder of the cutting varies, in 

 some cases being uniform until the tree falls, in others deepest on 

 one side, towards which it is then more likely to fall. I can only 

 add to these statements that the stumps of the felled trees at Lord 

 Bute's show the cutting to have been all round, and I think equally 

 so, but I am sure that the direction of the trees falling was not a 

 mere matter of likelihood, but of certainty, unless where the wind 

 interfered ; though it must not be overlooked that the banks 

 on which these trees stood slope towards the stream, and that 

 therefore the trees would have had a natural tendency to fall 

 that way. 



The tree-cutting is done towards the end of the year, in order 

 that the winter-supply of food may be provided. Having cut 

 down the tree the beavers strip off the branches, cutting them into 

 lengths for dragging away to the stream, where they either use 

 them for building, having first stripped off the bark for food, or 

 they float them down the stream and store them near their house. 

 Their food in winter consists wholly of the bark of trees ; in summer 



