146 FUR FACTS 



beaver to buy a half pound of glass beads, ten beaver for a coat, two 

 large beaver for a pound of tobacco, two or three beaver for a looking 

 glass, and one or two beaver for an iron kettle. In the early days 

 beaver was a medium of exchange; one beaver was worth so many 

 muskrat, and it took so many beaver to buy a marten skin or a fisher. 

 On the other hand a bag of flour was priced at so many beaver, or if 

 the trapper did not have beaver, its equivalent* in muskrats or what- 

 ever furs he might have. 



Old trappers claim that the peculiar claw on the second toe of the 

 hind foot of the beaver is used as a tooth pick, and some scientists 

 agree with this theory and that the beaver uses this peculiar shaped 

 claw to remove the splinters of wood that get between the teeth 

 while cutting trees. 



Beaver castorium is found in both the male and female and is 

 very valuable. It is a secretion resembling soft beeswax and is found 

 in two glands situated in the hind part of the body, and ranges in 

 price according to the market demand from three to four dollars. 



Raising Beaver 



Beaver is one of the most interesting of all furbearing animals 

 that we have, and Dr. Wm. T. Hornaday, one of the greatest author- 

 ities on wild animals in the world, says that in his opinion beaver would 

 lend themselves to domestication better than any of the other fur- 

 bearing animals. A number of zoological gardens have taken up 

 the raising of beaver and this has been found to be very successful. 

 Beaver will thrive in almost any part of the United States and need 

 very little care and attention, provided they are kept in a place 

 where there is plenty of water and enough natural food for them to 

 live on. They will eat nearly any kind of roots and vegetables they 

 are provided with, and because they are such an interesting animal 

 and because then* fur is so valuable, they should be given serious 

 consideration by every farmer who has a pond or a lake or a good- 

 sized stream on his place that could be utilized for the purpose. 



The United States Department of Agriculture will no doubt be 

 only too glad to lend its valuable support and to give every assis- 

 tance possible to anyone that will make a serious effort to start rais- 

 ing beaver. If there are wild beaver in your district make an effort 

 to take a pair of them alive or a colony of them alive, and start a 

 beaver ranch, and advise Funsten Bros. & Co., what success you have 

 and they in turn will find you customers for live pairs, from people 



