CHAPTER VIII. 



MODE OF TRAPPING BEAVER. 



Other Habits of the Beaver — Indications of Age — Tame Beavers — Nursed 

 by Indian Women — Building and Repairing Dams — Great Beaver Dis- 

 tricts — Hudson's Bay Company — American Fur Company — Private Ad- 

 venturers — The Steel Trap — Trapping Season — Trapping at the Dam — 

 At the Lodge — Traps sprung — Whether the Beaver when caught bites off 

 his Leg — Trapping under the Ice — Catching in a Pen — Trapping Bank 

 Beavers — Catching in Burrows — Trappers as a Class — Custom of hang- 

 ing up Skulls — Statistics of Fur Trade — Early and Recent Exportations — 

 Immense Numbers of Beavers. 



Before taking up the subject of trapping, there are 

 a few remaining facts relating to the habits of the 

 beaver which it may be well to embody in a general 

 statement. His personal acts, as far as they can be 

 ascertained, are not less essential to the completeness 

 of his natural history than his works, or his anatomi- 

 cal structure. Our knowledge of these acts, although 

 more ample than in relation to most animals, is 

 still very limited; wherefore each additional item 

 must be considered in the light of a substantial gain. 

 Some of the facts about to be stated are upon the au- 

 thority of the Missouri and Lake Superior trappers, 

 others were obtained from Indian sources, and the re- 

 mainder were derived from personal observation. 



The beaver, in moving, never steps backward, but 



turns round, as his tail drags on the ground. While 



walking, his back arches slightly; when standing still, 



its curvature is much increased. In running, his 



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