BEAVER 



642 



BEAVER FALLS 



Outline and Questions on 

 the Beaver 



I. Characteristics 



i 1 ) Of mus A rat family 



-./.. weight, shape and color 

 Tail 



of head 



(6) Teeth 



II. Life and Habits 



1 i Haunts 



Social nature 

 (3) Lodges ami dams 



.Matt-rials 

 (b) Method of construction 



ood 

 Industry and intelligence 



III. Commercial Value 



(1) Fur 



(a) Danger of extermination of 



beaver 



(b) Importance of fur-hunting in 



history 



M as food among Indians 

 (3) Use in manufacture of perfume 



Questions 



Of what use is the tail of the beaver? 



How does a beaver cut down a tree? 



What part did this animal play in 

 the early history of North America? 



What famous American author wrote 

 ; iption of its life and habits? 



To what curious use was the skin 

 formerly put? 



Why does the beaver build a dam? 



With what insects may it be com- 

 pared, and why? 



What parts of the beaver besides 

 in are useful? 



Flow arf the teeth specially fitted 

 for thr- work they must do? 



FF.w old is the young animal when 

 up housekeeping? 



Why are beavers not usually shot? 



How does the skin of the live ani- 

 mal differ from that seen in a beaver 

 muff? 



How large Is the ordinary house or 

 lodge? 



How many rooms has it? How 

 many openings? 



What special adaptation Is to be 

 seen in the direction in which a dam 

 is built? 



How would you go about it to catch 

 a beaver? 



common; and to say that a person is "as 

 busy as a beaver" is as much a compliment 

 as it is to say one is "as busy as a bee." Even 

 though the beaver may live in -i rage, its com- 

 munity instincts are demonstrated. It will 

 cut to pieces a box or a chair and build a dam 

 for the stream that will never flow, or \veave 

 sticks between the bars of its cage. The ani- 

 mals become used to confinement and colonies 

 are flourishing in zoological gardens in various 

 American and European cities. 



Commercial Uses. The thick, warm under 

 coat of beavers is one of the most valuable 

 of furs. It was at one time extensively used 

 in the manufacture of hats, and the early 

 prosperity of New York and Canada was based 

 on beavers. The animals have been driven 

 so far into the wilderness, however, and are so 

 nearly extinct, that beaver fur has become ex- 

 pensive and rare. It is now used chiefly for 

 muffs, collars and trimming, but is necessarily 

 less used year by year. 



One form of beaver trap is a noose fastened 

 to a branch of a tree, so arranged that when a 

 beaver's head is caught in the loop, the branch 

 springs up, the rope tightens and so the animal 

 is caught. As beavers go about chiefly at 

 night, it is not easy to catch them by shooting. 

 In 1910 almost 25,000 beavers were killed in 

 Canada, valued at about $132,000, or $5.25 a 

 skin, before the expensive process of dressing. 



Indians and frontiersmen liked the flesh of 

 beavers. A reddish-brown substance called 

 'castorcum is obtained from these animals; it 

 has a strong, penetrating odor and is used by 

 perfumers. At one time it was valued for 

 medicinal purposes. 



A very fine description of the beaver, its 

 method of living, also the method of trapping 

 it, may be found in Astoria, written by Wash- 

 ington Irving. M.S. 



Consult Mills's In Beaver World; Morgan's 

 American Beavers. 



BEAVER FALLS, PA., is in Beaver County, 

 in the western part of the state. It is thirty- 

 two miles northwest of Pittsbtirgh, is on the 

 Beaver River and on the Pennsylvania and the 

 Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroads, and has 

 electric interurban service. A bridge across 

 the river connects the city with New Brighton. 

 The population, which in 1910 was 12,191, was 

 13,100 in 1914. 



Beaver Falls occupies an area of about two 

 square miles, and is surrounded by hills. The 

 vicinity is rich in natural gas and coal. Manu- 

 factured products include steel, files, wire, nails, 



