wn {ZT 
The trap itself is in the water, and fastened to the 
shore by a chain. In summer, the beavers are lean, 
and their fur is poor, for which reason they are us- 
ually not caught at this time. But in winter they get 
fat and have thicker hair. Their meat is very palat- 
able. The tails, which are fat all through, are espe- 
cially regarded as delicacies. Besides the fur, the cas- 
toreum found in two pouches on the belly, is very val- 
uable for its use in medicine. A persistent enemy of 
the beaver is the wolverine (Gulo Luseus), a sort of 
glutton who attacks not only the winter supplies of 
the beavers, but often the beavers themselves. Their 
most dangerous enemy, however, is the tireless trap- 
per. The beaver formerly spread oyer the greater 
part of the United States. From the cultivated por- 
tions he has disappeared long ago; and in his present 
home, in the Rocky Mountains, he is beginning to 
become scarcer. Hundreds of thousands of them 
have been trapped there in the last decades, and a war 
of extermination has been waged against the race. 
The consequence is that they are now found only 
singly in regions that were formerly well known for 
their abundance of beavers. It is only in the lands 
of hostile Indians, the Blackfeet, for instance, that 
they still exist in greater numbers, because the Indians 
do not specially occupy themselves with beaver trap- 
ping. The furs of beavers caught in the spring are 
best. However, many trappers catch them in every 
season. The green skins are first cleaned, then 
stretched out, dried and folded. A dry beaver pelt 
Beginning 
the Return 
Journey— 
The Beaver 
