WHERE THE BEAVER IS PROTECTED 



Bi/ Bdniuiii Broini 



Till- following i)ersonal observations on the American beaver in Alberta in 1911 present 

 an oiHimistic oiitloolv as to the increase of this important fur-bearing species under protection. 

 Mr. Brown liad luuisual opportunities to gather accurate linowledgc of the condition of the 

 beaver during two consecutive summers, when lie slowly drifted with a houseboat down the 

 Red Deer River hunting for Cretaceous fossils. — Editor. 



THE American heaver formerly had a wifler distrihution than any 

 otlier mammal except the puma. Its ranj^e extended from Alaska 

 to California and Arizona, across ( 'anada, from Hudson's Bay 

 along the Atlantic Coast as far south as Georgia and northern Florida, 

 thence alcmg the (hdf of Mexico as far as the Rio Grande, and some distance 

 into Mexico. Inland it inhabited mtiny rivers and small lakes over most 

 of the states. At present comparatively few colonies are left within the 

 boundaries of the United 

 States, although most states 

 in which they are found have 

 laws protecting them. 



From the earliest explora- 

 tions the history of (\inada 

 has been interwoven with the 

 beaver. The luiit of barter 

 between the Hudson's Bay 

 Company and the Indians 

 was formerly a beaver skin 

 and to-day the crest of the 

 Canadian Dominion is a bea- 

 ver. In the northwestern 

 part of Canada beavers are 

 still quite numerous, espe- 

 cially in the "muskeg" regions. They are protected in NeAv Brunswick 

 until July 1, 1912, and in All)erta until December 31, 1912. In the unor- 

 ganized territories there is an open season from October 1 to May 15. 

 Laws to protect the beaA'cr during a period of se\'eral years or indefinitely 

 are most urgently needed and it is unfortunate that there should be any 

 open season at present, for streams are now being repopuhited where since 

 settlement, bea\'ers had almost completely disappetired. 



In a journey of two hundred and fifty miles down tiie Red Deer River, 

 Alberta, in 1911, I counted thirty-seven occu])ied beaver houses, five of 

 which had been built since 1910 when a half of this distance was traversed. 

 One particularly large colony observed the year before and known to con- 

 tain eight individuals had been destroyed, presumably trapped as the 

 burrow had been opened. 



Siiial! poplar grove cut down by l>eavers. ISIost of 

 the trunks and branches liave been dragged to the 

 river one hundnnl yards distant 



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