CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITAT. 33 



Montana, and Colorado. They are still occasionally 

 seen in Maine, New York, and Virginia. In the 

 Hudson's Bay Territory, and in some portions of the 

 Canadas, and west of the mountains in Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, California, and Nevada they are still numer- 

 ous. They are also still abundant on the south 

 shore of Lake Superior in Upper Michigan, where 

 their works, in numbers and magnitude, are not sur- 

 passed by those of any other beaver district in North 

 America. 



Their immense numbers in former periods are suffi- 

 ciently attested by the statistics of the fur trade, of 

 which some notice will be given in a subsequent chap- 

 ter. The earliest colonists found in their rich furs 

 their first exportable merchandise; and thus this ani- 

 mal contributed, with his life, in no inconsiderable 

 degree, to the colonization and permanent settlement 

 of the Canadas and the United States. 



The habitat of the European beaver was as wide- 

 spread as that of the American. He was found in 

 the British Islands, in all parts of the European Con- 

 tinent, in Siberia, and southward^ in Asia Minor, to 

 the Euphrates. He is now extinct in Europe, except 

 upon some of the larger rivers of the Continent, and 

 in some portions of Russia. In Scotland and Wales 

 he was found as late as the twelfth century. He is 

 still found in Siberia. 



There are marked differences in the habits of the 

 American and European beavers, although it is doubt- 

 ful whether the species are distinct. The European 

 beaver is said to lead a solitary life in burrows, 

 rarely constructing lodges or dams; while the Ameri- 

 can beaver is pre-eminently a builder of both dams 



3 



