CHAPTER V 

 CAN THE BEAVER BE SAVED? 



HEEE, too, may be considered the beaver, with 

 reference to the possibility of preserving it 

 from extinction, and cultivating it for fur. In 

 most of our states and provinces this animal 

 is more or less under legal protection, and 

 scattered colonies flourish throughout the moun- 

 tainous parts of the West, while several zoolog- 

 ical parks and some private estates have 

 colonies. These thrive, and increase so fast 

 that from time to time it is necessary to thin 

 out the band. A newspaper reports that about 

 100 were in this way culled out of the colony 

 in Algonkin Park, a national reserve in north- 

 ern Ontario, during 1909. 



It would seem entirely feasible, then, for any- 

 one having a favorable place on his estate to 

 rear beavers. A swampy valley is usually of 

 little usefulness otherwise. The cost of con- 

 fining and protecting the colony would, how- 

 94 



