Waterfowl. 49 



a question of but a short time. Excepting an occasional 

 otter or mink, or a few musk-rats, it is the only fur-bearing 

 animal followed by the western plains trapper ; and its 

 large size and the marked peculiarities of its habits, to- 

 gether with the accessibility of its haunts on the plains, 

 as compared with its haunts in the deep woods and moun- 

 tains, render its pursuit and capture comparatively easy. 

 We have trapped (or occasionally shot) on the ranch 

 during the past three years several score beaver ; the fur 

 is paler and less valuable than in the forest animal. Those 

 that live in the river do not build dams all across it, but 

 merely extending up some distance against the current, so 

 as to make a deep pool or eddy, beside which are the 

 burrows and houses. It would seem to be a simple feat 

 to break into a beaver house, but in reality it needs no 

 little toil with both spade and axe, for the house has very 

 thick roof and walls, made of clay and tough branches, 

 twisted together into a perfect mat, which, when frozen, 

 can withstand any thing but the sharpest and best of tools. 

 At evening beaver often come out to swim, and by wait- 

 ing on the bank perfectly quietly for an hour or so a close 

 shot can frequently be obtained. 



Beaver are often found in the creeks, not only in those 

 which always contain running water, but also in the dry 

 ones. Here they build dams clean across, making ponds 

 which always contain water, even if the rest of the bed 

 is almost dry ; and I have often been surprised to find 

 fresh traces of beaver in a pond but a few feet across, 

 a mile away from any other body of water. On one 

 occasion I was deer-hunting in a rough, broken country, 



