362 THE TBAPPER. 



have cubs till two years old. Until within two or three 

 months of that event thej remain in the parental abode. 

 Usually the inmates of one camp number from eight to 

 ten, i. e. two old ones and two litters of young ones of 

 three or four each. The young people, on reaching the 

 age of puberty i. e. about March of the second year are 

 turned out to shift for themselves ; and having taken unto 

 themselves helpmates, proceed to put up a dam and house 

 for themselves, generally near their old house, and make 

 provision for the expected increase to their family. Odd 

 beavers, whose mates have been slain, whose young affec- 

 tions have been trampled upon, or who from other causes 

 have remained single, lead a solitary and (no doubt) 

 wretched existence, generally in holes in the banks of 

 lakes and rivers. These spinster and bachelor beavers are 

 generally to be met with along the banks of large rivers, 

 where no dam or house is requisite, and are called " bank 

 beaver" by the trappers, who say that they are idle 

 fellows, turned away frpm the parent roof for not doing 

 their fair share of work, and for showing symptoms of 

 incapacity or laziness in the dam-building line. 



Although the principal food of the beaver consists in 

 the bark of certain trees, it is lucky for them that they 

 are not wholly dependent upon wood, else they would die 

 of starvation when large fires sweep over the land. They 

 dive for and eat with great relish the large cucumber- 

 shaped roots of the water-lily and other stalks and roots 

 that grow in the water. The barks they eat in order of 

 preference are those of the popple, or American poplar (a 

 soft, sappy tree of very rapid growth), white birch, alder, 

 rowan tree, moosewood, white maple, willow, spruce, and 



