1962 The Zoologist— January, 1870. 



notions prevalent in compilations, are yet the result of my own inde- 

 pendent observations. 



About January their tracks may be seen in the snow near the outlet 

 of the lakes where young fir trees grow. At this time they prefer 

 young fir trees as food to any other kind of tree, the reason, doubtless, 

 being that at this period the sap has not risen in the willow or alder 

 {Alnus oregana). It is not often that females are caught in the spring ; 

 and the males seem to travel about, as the runs are not used so regu- 

 larly as they are when the beavers are living near. 



Some of the beavers become torpid during January, especially those 

 living near lakes, swamps, or large sheets of water which are frozen. 

 They do not lay in a store of sticks for winter use as stated bj- Capt. 

 Bonville (Washington Irving's * Adventures of Capt. Bonville '), as one 

 day's supply of sticks for a single beaver would fill a house — and if a 

 stick were cut in the autumn, before the winter was over it would have 

 lost its sap, and would not be eaten by the beaver. A beaver never 

 eats the bark of a tree that is dead, though he may gnaw a hard jjiece 

 of wood to keep his teeth down. A little grass is generally found in 

 the houses, but is used as a bed and not for food. 



If February is an open mouth, the beavers begin to come out of 

 their retreats, and frequent any running water near them ; but it is 

 generally March before the bulk of them come out of winter-quarters. 

 When they come out they are lean ; but their furs are still good, 

 and continue so till the middle of Ma} — though if a trapper thought 

 of revisiting the place, he would not trap after April, so as to allow 

 them to breed quietly. 



About the end of March the beaver begins to " call." Both males 

 and females " call " and answer one another. Sometimes on one 

 " calling," half-a-dozen will answer from ditfercnt parts of the lake. 

 I have known beavers to "call" as late as August. Males fight 

 during the rutting-season most fiercely. Hardly a skin is without 

 scars ; and large pieces are often bitten out of their tails. The beaver 

 holds like a bull-dog, but does not snap. It shakes its head so as to 

 tear. When trapped, it will face a man, dodge a slick, and then 

 seize it, taking chips out of it at every bite. It seems to attack from 

 behind. 



The period of gestation is known with little certainty, as they are 

 never trapped in summer. The female brings forth some time about 

 the end of June ; and it is a year before a beaver is full-grown ; and 

 even then it has not the embonpoint of an elderly beaver. 



