Clifton College Scientific Society. 31 



springs, and attached to a long pole by means of a chain — is 

 then placed in the water, near the point whence the Beaver 

 usually jumps ashore. The pole is driven firmly into the 

 bottom, as far out from the bank as possible, the trap itself 

 being kept close to land and covered merely by a few inches 

 of water. The Beaver, attracted by the strong smelling sub- 

 stance, gives an approving slap of his tail, and starts off, if 

 anywhere in the neighbourhood, to investigate the booty ; 

 and as he is leaving the water, gives a ' purchase,' so as to 

 spring up the bank on the very place where the trap is con- 

 cealed.^ If the trap has been rightly set he will most likely 

 be caught by his foot, but if the water over it be more than 

 about four inches in depth, he will just as probably jump 

 over it and escape. When caught, the animal tries to dive 

 into the water again where it is deepest, and if he is unable 

 to extricate himself by the summary process of biting off his 

 own entangled limb, he is quickly drowned. Should the 

 water in which the pole has been fastened be less than four 

 or five feet deep, the amputation will very likely be effected 

 and the trapper meet with disappointment. 



Trapping is carried on from September till May, the 

 remaining months of the year bringing to the Beaver brief 

 security from the attacks of man. Occasionally spearing or 

 shooting is employed for its capture, but trapping is the 

 more usual method. The female produces her litter about 

 the month of May, The young are termed ' kittens, '^ and 

 there are generally four of them brought forth at a birth. 

 The male, as well as the mother, concerns himself in the care 

 of the offspring, a duty prolonged even to the second year. 



I have now mentioned the principal details connected with 

 the habits of the Beaver, so far as the American variety is 

 concerned, for though the Beaver of the Old World seems to 

 be very similar (as already said), its much greater scarcity 

 renders the work of observation more difl&cult. It remains 

 to describe very briefly a few chief points in the structure of 

 the Beaver. 



The family of Castoridce, or Beavers, contains but two 

 genera, the Beaver and the Coypu. The latter animal is a 

 native of South America, where it lives in situations similar 



' R. Brown, op. cit. 367-8. 



^ The gambols of these little creatures are said to be exceedingly interesting. A 

 hunter who was watching the movement of a number of • kittens' with the inten- 

 tion of shooting some of them, was so moved by the likeness of their gestures to 

 those of his own children at home, that he could not bring himself to hiu-t them. — 

 J^ide Casseli's Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 27'"). 



