proclaimed. The resulting benefit is evidenced 

 in the remarkable manner in which the surviving 

 animals have multiplied, and from a few 

 scattered colonies about the less settled areas 

 of the province, have thriven to unprecedented 

 numbers in prairie and parkland, penetrating 

 even to the heart of the city of Calgary and on ^ 

 the bare plains where a clump of bush has the-".*. 



prairie city and as such jealously guarded by the 

 Calgary city fathers. The depredations of the 

 beavers to the park's trees and shrubs first 

 drew public attention to the serious menace 

 they constituted, and before action was put 

 under way, the landscape near the river pre- 

 sented a rude scene of destruction, much of the 

 underbrush being cleared off and collected in 

 heaps and many heavier 

 trees felled, cut up and 

 hauled to the water for the 

 construction of dams. 



Upon application, a 

 permit to trap was secured 

 from the provincial game 

 authorities, and the de- 

 struction of the valuable 

 fur-bearers, who have con- 

 stituted themselves such 

 a menace, is under way, 

 the pelts being sent to 

 Edmonton for sale by the 

 government. 



Trees felled by Beavers in building dams. 



highest of sentimental and economic values, 

 menacing the carefully guarded shade and shelter 

 bluffs. 



Calgary, the largest city of Alberta, springing 

 picturesquely out of the prairie, woke up to the 

 fact that she was harboring a colony of these 

 little animals and resented the fact deeply, as 

 they chose to make their home in a beautiful 

 park which is a distinct acquisition to the 



A Valuable Animal 



The beaver is a precious animal. The value 

 of its pelt remains consistently high, and the 

 protection the animal has enjoyed widely in 

 Canada for so long a period has been an 

 additional factor in keeping prices up. Govern- 

 ment protection in the past has practically 

 precluded the domestic ranching of the animal, 

 which has been found so interesting and profit- 



31 



