604 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



trees they kill have no value. Where beaver have to 

 be killed or removed the work should be done under 

 the direct control of an efficient State Game Depart- 

 ment. 



Wherever general trapping is permitted, the ani- 

 mals will soon become extinct. I believe, that in cer- 

 tain wild regions as on Isle Royale, in Lake Superior, 

 colonies of beaver might yield a reasonable income, if 

 properly managed. 



Against their natural enemies they are well pro- 

 tected. Lynxes and wolves cannot attack them in the 

 water nor in their houses or burrows. I have seen 



OPENING A BEAVER HOUSE 

 The opening in this beaver house is large enough to admit a man who 

 is well on his way to explore the interior. Note the large branches oi 

 which it is built. 



Otter trails near beaver houses and it is possible that 

 this agnostic hunter may attack them in the water or 

 even invade their houses. A hungry eagle would no 

 doubt pounce upon the young, but the beaver children 

 seldom venture more than a few yards from the paren- 

 tal roof and castle. 



To harmless woodland neighbors the beavers are 

 indifferent and live at peace with them ; and for catch- 

 ing glimpses of the life of the wood folk there is no 

 better place than a beaver pond. 



At one place I observed daily from my shelf-plat- 

 form in a tree the feeding and playing of a brood of 

 black ducks. A young woodchuck also browsed right 

 below me and used the beaver dam as his turnpike. 

 Once he tried to cross the stream on a pole, but lost 

 his hold and fell with a splash into the water. 



At another pond, a flock of Canadian jays tried to 

 steal my bacon out of the frying pan, and at a third 

 pond I observed the play and calls of loons that were 

 unconscious of my presence, and I watched deer feed- 

 ing for an hour near a beaver clearing. 



The Indians indulged in many practical jokes at 

 the expense of their pious Jesuit teachers. One of 



HOW A BEAVER SAVED WORK 



Whether the animal knew how to do it or not the fact remains that this 

 tree was felled after the beaver had cut through only one side of it. 



them, Father Joseph Louvence, tells us that the 

 heavers have two teeth projecting from the sides of 

 their mouths like swords and that they use these like 

 saws in cutting down trees, that their houses are 

 divided into several stories and that their dams are so 

 ingeniously built that one could expect nothing better 

 from the most skilful architect. The account shows 

 that the good father had never seen a beaver house, a 

 dam nor a beaver. 



PINE TREE CUT BY BEAVER 



Note the size of this tree and guess the amount of work required to cut 

 it down. The power and sharpness of the beaver's teeth may be judged 

 ky the fact that some of the chips are four inches long. 



