TlIK IIOCKY MOUNTAINS UKi 



.\l;iii\' cottoii-wood lives iicai' oui- caiiii) on lluii'iiiu 

 Fork had l)COii f(dl('<I hy beavovs, and (Hi a still iii^lit wo 

 could liear the soundiiio- smack with which llic animal hits 

 the surface of the water with its thit tail 



They tell tall tales to tt'iiderfeet about beavers. One 

 ol" (till- men was never tirc(l ot" aruuinu" that the beaver, 

 when constructiiiu' or repairin-j,' his house. h)ads that spade- 

 like implement with mud and carries it in front of him 

 like an apron, while he walks erect. 1 am reminded of a 

 Hibernian tenderfoot, who, seeing a beaver's skin in cam]). 

 remarked — '' Begorral what a toiujue the craytur lias ! "" 



We had with ns a single beaver trap, which we 

 occasionally set. The lure is a minute portion of the 

 powerfully-smelling gland of a beaver. Pliny tells us that 

 beavers, well knowing that they are ])nrsued for certain 

 organs, will mutilate themsehes when hard pressed. The 

 essence is rubbed on to twin's overhanoino; the water. 

 The scent is carried far down t\\v stream ; the beaver 

 follows it upwards to its source, and gets caught in 

 the tra}), which is set under the surface and firmly 

 pegged. Only once were we successful in securing a 

 specimen. Being short of meat at the time we cooked 

 him. lie was greasy eating, especially the tail. No 

 animal has l)een more mercilc.-sl\- harried lor his coat than 

 the beaver, and the skilful pelt -hunter, following up 

 every creek in the country, clears them one by one ot 

 theif iidiabitants. Even this individual had lost one leg 

 in a [)ast encounter. 



There are, or were in 1884, a few moose in this part 

 of the Uocky ^b)untains, thouuh I had not at that time 

 heard of any sportsman who had hccn .-^uccesslul in obtain- 



