344 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



G. s. macrotis Mearns. Color reddish: New England, New York, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin. 



G. s. bangsi (Rhoads). Color grayer: Idaho, western Wyoming and 

 Montana. 



G. s. olympicus Elliot. Color very dark; size large: coastal region 

 of Washington and Oregon. 



G. s. oregonensis (Bachman). Color dark and reddish: coastal 

 region of Oregon and Washington. 



G. s. fuliginosus (Rhoads). Color browner; length 317 mm.: 

 Cascade Range from British Columbia into California. 



G. s. klamathensis (Merriam). Color brown, tinged with fulvous: 

 region of the Klamath Lakes, Oregon. 



G. s. calif ornicus (Rhoads). Colors pale; length 286 mm.: southern 

 California. 



G. s. lascivus (Bangs). Color dark; size small: northern California; 

 Sierra Nevada Range. 



G. s. stepJiensi (Merr.). Color redder: coastal region, northern 

 California. 



Family 8. Castoridae. — Beavers. Large, stout rodents with a 

 large flattened and scaly tail; all feet with 5 toes; hind feet webbed 

 and wdth a double-clawed second toe; dentition i/i, 0/0, i/i, 3/3: 

 I genus. 



Castor L. With the characters of the family: 3 American species 

 and 14 subspecies. 



C. canadensis Kuhl. Body covered with a dense, soft fur and dark 

 brown in color; length 1,100 mm.; tail 410 mm.; hind foot 175 mm.; 

 average weight 35 lbs.: North America from Hudson Bay and Alaska 

 into the southern Alleghanies in the east and into Mexico in the west; 

 exterminated in well-settled regions. Beavers are aquatic and noc- 

 turnal, and feed on bark and twigs. The nest is usually in a conical 

 lodge built of sticks and mud in a pond formed by throwing a dam of 

 sticks and earth across a stream. Along streams with high banks the 

 nest is often a chamber in the bank above the water level, and con- 

 nected with the stream by a tunnel whose entrance is under the water. 

 From 2 to 5 young are raised annually. 



Subspecies of C. canadensis 



C. c. canadensis Kuhl. Northeastern and central America; Hudson- 

 ian, Canadian and Transition zones. 



C. c. carolinensis Rhoads. Size larger; color hghter; tail broader: 

 North Carolina to Louisiana and Texas. 



