H6 THE SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE; 



the parental roof in search of a partner, with the inten- 

 tion of establishing a new home. It also frequently hap- 

 pens that the family circle has been impaired through the 

 agency of the hunter or trapper, that the father or mother 

 has been trapped or killed. Under these circumstances 

 the survivor takes upon himself, or herself, the entire 

 charge of the family. Sooner or later, however, the young 

 will mature and go forth in search of mates, while the adult 

 must again start on this journey. It is a well-recognized 

 fact that single beavers are sometimes found which live 

 apart from all others of their species. There are wan- 

 derers which, during the summer months, are travelling 

 about, bent on the accomplishment of the object of their 

 lives, impelled by a God-given power, seeking a com- 

 panion in order to make a home and rear a family. 

 Furthermore, they are strictly monogamic in their habits, 

 and while the first partner survives none other is per- 

 mitted to enter the family circle. It is," said the cap- 

 tain, " for the accomplishment of this object that the 

 mounds are erected by the lonely traveller ; and it is on 

 these mounds that they declare to the opposite sex their 

 desire to effect a union by depositing here a small quan- 

 tity of castoreum, which is generated in two glandular 

 pouches situated near the organs of reproduction, and 

 the odor of which sufficiently differs in the sexes to be 

 instantly recognized by these keen-scented animals at long 

 distances. Therefore the wanderer, without regard to sex, 

 is enabled to raise a mound, deposit thereon the lover's 

 proclamation, which will be scented and understood of the 

 opposite sex within a large radius, while the suitor, seeking 



