56 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



repeated. But the incoming of the settlers and the 

 driving out of the Indians have left the ground clear 

 for the trappers to work over unintermittently, and 

 the extinction of the beaver throughout the plains 

 country is a question of but a short time. Except- 

 ing 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, together with the 

 accessibility of its haunts on the plains, as com- 

 pared 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 anything but 

 the sharpest and best of tools. At evening beaver 

 often come out to swim, and by waiting on the 

 plank perfectly quiet 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 



