CHAPTER XVI. 



The Beaver Trappers and Ex-trappers Captain John Connor Beaver- 

 houses : their Construction and Position Breeding in-and-in Food 

 Aquatic Romps Attempt to "out-smart" a Beaver Beaver-dams: 

 how built Traps Beaver Medicine : its manipulation The "Setting 

 Ground " Beaver-trapping How he is caught Disappointment The 

 Pursuit of the Beaver as a Sport Frost. 



THE fur on the beaver had by this time arrived at its 

 perfection, and we therefore turned our attention exclu- 

 sively to trapping that animal, for though we had been 

 assured the streams in Wet-mountain Valley always re- 

 mained sufficiently open during winter to permit of this 

 pursuit being followed all through that season, it was 

 becoming so cold we feared an exceptionally sharp "nip" 

 would close them, and consequently trapping might be 

 stopped. 



To know the nature of a be.ist is the first step towards becoming a 

 successful hunter of it. John Connor. 



The habits of that most interesting animal, the beaver, 

 and the mode of his capture, have not, that I am aware 

 of, been ever written about by anyone who has had 

 practical experience in the matter. Trappers are almost 



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