208 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



parts. Practically speaking, their principal habitat 

 is Canada, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico 

 and Alaska. 



The animal is in general appearance much like a 

 gigantic muskrat with a broad, flat, thick tail. 

 The weight of an adult ranges from thirty -five to 

 sixty or seventy pounds, length up to about forty- 

 five inches, including tail, the scaly part of which 

 is from seven to nine-and-a-half inches long and 

 approximately half that width. The circumference 

 of the body at its largest part is rather over two 

 feet, and the heaviness of the build is shown by 

 the measurement around the neck back of the 

 ears, which is about fourteen inches. The front 

 legs are very short with small feet having five 

 toes. The hind legs are also short but much more 

 heavily built and have the feet webbed from the 

 base of each of the five toe-nails. All toes are fur- 

 nished with strong nails, those of the front foot 

 being slightly narrower and longer. On the 

 second toe of the hind foot the nail is curiously 

 cleft, presumably for the purpose of combing the 

 hair. The palms of both feet are bare and nearly 

 black in colour. A soft, rather thick hair covers 

 the front hand, while the hind foot, which spreads 

 to a width of about nine inches, is not so thickly 

 covered. The beaver's tail, about which so much 

 is written, is covered with thick fur and hair near 

 the body, from which it suddenly appears like a 

 broad paddle completely covered with a hard, scaly 



