NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 55 



several years" (Dr. G. Bump, in Hit.). The following sta- 

 tistics have been obligingly furnished by Dr. Gardiner Bump, 

 Superintendent of the Bureau of Game, concerning recent 

 beaver catches in New York State. In 1935, 2,498 pelts were 

 taken in eleven counties; in 1936 there was no open season; in 

 1937, a total of 2,014 pelts was taken in thirteen counties; and 

 in 1938, in twelve counties, 2,629. It is thus clear that under 

 wise management and intelligent supervision the bearver may 

 become a considerable asset in regions where conditions are 

 suitable for the maintenance of a breeding population. 



The story in Pennsylvania is much like that in New York 

 State. Rhoads (1903), after giving in detail such older records 

 as he could find concerning their former abundance and gradual 

 extirpation in the State, summarizes these as follows: "It is 

 evident that this interesting animal was practically extermi- 

 nated in the eastern half of its Canadian habitat in Pa. about 

 1830; that some remained in the headwaters of the west branch 

 of the Susquehanna till about 1840, and that almost the last 

 stragglers of their race were killed in Elk, Clarion, and Centre 

 Cos., between the years 1850 and 1865." Beavers killed in 

 Clinton County in 1884 and on* seen in Cambria County in 

 1899 may have been escapes. It seems safe to say that beavers 

 had been practically exterminated in Pennsylvania for 60 years 

 when in 1917 a pair was imported from Wisconsin. From then 

 until 1924, 94 beavers "were imported and set free in certain 

 sections of the State at a cost of about $50 each. The animals 

 increased so rapidly that it soon became necessary to transfer 

 some of them to other sections. A survey by the State Board 

 of Game Commissioners of the streams in Pennsylvania in 

 1931 revealed 899 beaver dams with an estimated beaver 

 population of 4,377, which by 1934 had increased to 15,000. 

 During the 1934 trapping season, 6,455 beavers were legally 

 taken, which, at the average price of $15 a pelt, brought the 

 trappers a total of $96,825. In 1936, under increased trapping 

 restrictions, 2,261 pelts were taken which brought a total 

 return to the trappers of $22,610, an average price of $10 each 

 . . . These financial returns demonstrate that the beaver 

 constitutes a natural resource of great importance" (Couch, 

 1937). 



Profiting in part by the experience of New York and Penn- 

 sylvania, beavers have in recent years been introduced into 



