ways entered at their own doors, without 

 any further connection witli their neigh- 

 bors than a friendly intercourse, and to 

 join their united labors in erecting their 

 separate habitations, and building their 

 dams where required. Travellers, who 

 assert that beavers have two doors to 

 their houses, one on the landside, and the 

 other next the water, seem to be less ac- 

 quainted witli these animals than others, 

 who assitrn them an elegant suite ofai)art- 

 ments. Such a construction would ren- 

 der their houses of no use, cither to pro- 

 tect them from the attacks of their en 

 emies, or guard them against extreme 

 cold weather. 



" So far are beavers from driving stakes 

 into the ground, when building their 

 houses, that they lav most of tiie wood 

 crosswise, and nearly horizontal, and 

 without any other order than that of leav- 

 ing a hollow, or cavity in the middle ; 

 when any unnecessary branches project 

 inward, they cut them oft' with their teeth, 

 and throw them in among the rest, to pre- 

 vent the mud from falling through the roof. 

 It is a mistaken notion, that the wood work. 

 is first completed and then plastered; for 

 the whole of their houses as well ^s their 

 danis, are, from the foundation, one mass 

 of mud and wood, mixed with stones, if 

 they can be procured. The mud is always 

 taken from the edge of the bank, or tlie 

 bottom of the creek or pond, near the door 

 of the house ; and, though their fore paws 

 are small, yet it is held so close up between 

 them under their throat, that they carry 

 both mud and stones, while they always 

 drag the wood witli their teeth. All their 

 work is executed in the night ; and they 

 are so expeditious, that in the course of 

 one night I have known them to have 

 collected as much mud as amounted to 

 some thousands of their little handfuls. 

 It is the great policy in these animals to 

 cover the outside of their houses every 

 fall with fresh mud, and as late as possi- 

 ble in the autumn, even when the frosts 

 become pretty severe, as by this means it 

 soon freezes as hard as a stone, and pre- 

 vents their common enemy, the wolver- 

 ene, from distucbing them during the 

 winter. And as they are frequently seen 

 to walk over their work, and sometimes 

 to give a flap with their tail, particularly 

 when plunging into the water, this with- 

 out doubt, has given rise to the vnlo-ar 

 opinion that they use their tails as a trow- 

 el, with which they plaster their houses ; 

 whereas that flapping of the tail is no 

 more than a custom, which they always 

 preserve, even when they become tame 

 and domestic, and more particularly so 

 when tliey are startled." 



Judge Parker, who has devoted consid- 

 erable attention to the habits of our native 

 quadrupeds, after confirming the above 

 statement of Hearne, in relation to the 

 structure of the dams and houses of the 

 beaver, observes : " 1 have thought the 

 correct judgment exercised by the beaver 

 in the selection of the place for his dam, 

 to be the most remarkable part of his 

 character. The choice seems to be made 

 with reference to the plenty of timber 

 suitable for his food, and the proportion, 

 which the space to be overflowed bears 

 to the length of the dam ; and with regard 

 to these, they seem to judge as correctly 

 as man. So far as they have fallen under 

 my own observation, 1 have always found 

 them at the very best places, which could 

 be selected on the whole stream. One chief 

 object of their pond seems to be, to float 

 timber, which is to serve them for food, 

 to their dwellings ; and where the water 

 does not prove deep enough for that pur- 

 pose, tiiey deepen it by digging a trench 

 along the bottom, and cutting ott" the logs 

 vvliich lie in their way, with their teeth. 

 1 have seen logs 20 inches in diameter, 

 which had been thus cut oft' and remov- 

 ed."^ 



Tlieir food during the winter consists 

 principally of the root of the pond lily, 

 JVup/iar Ivtctan, which they find in the 

 water beneath the ice. They also feed 

 uj)on the bark of the poplar, birch and 

 willow, which they cut down in the fall 

 and drag into the water opposite the doors 

 of their houses, as a part of their supply 

 for the winter. In the summer they rove 

 about, feeding upon different kinds of 

 herbage and berries, and do not return to 

 repair their houses and lay in their winter 

 stock of wood till towards fall. When 

 they are to erect a new habitation, they 

 fell the timber for it in the spring, but do 

 not begin to build till August, and never 

 complete it till cold weather sets in. 



The beaver is a cleanly animal, never 

 allowing any excrement or filth within 

 its lodge. They are said to pair in Feb- 

 ruary and bring forth their young in the 

 latter part of May, producing from four 

 to eight at a Utter. Beavers seldom cut 

 down trees which exceed 5 or 6 inches in 

 diameter, and they always leave the top 

 of the stump in the form of a cone. They 

 gnaw all round the tree, but direct its 

 fall bj' cutting one side higher than the 

 other. The weight of a full grown beav- 

 er does not often exceed 30 pounds, 

 though, according to Dr. Williams, they 

 have taken in Vermont weighing from 

 40 to 60 pounds.! 



*Lptlortoihe Aullior. 



t !Iis. of Veimoiil, Vol. I. p. 121. 



