356 AMERICAN BEAVER. 



choice in their food, and devoured any kind of vegetable, and even bread, 

 they in every case suffered fish to remain untouched in their cages. 



The food of this species, in a state of nature; consists of the bark of 

 several kinds of trees and shrubs, and of bulbous and other roots. It is 

 particularly fond of the bark of the birch, {Beiula) the cotton-wood, 

 {Popidus,) and of several species of willow, {Salix ;) it feeds also with 

 avidity on the roots of some aquatic plants, especially on those of the 

 Nuphair luteum. In summer, when it sometimes wanders to a distance 

 from the water, it eats berries, leaves, and various kinds of herbage. 



The young are born in the months of April and May ; those produced 

 in the latter month are the most valuable, as they grow rapidly and be- 

 come strong and large, not being checked in their growth, which is often 

 the case with those that are born earlier in the season. Some females 

 have been taken in July, with young, but such an event is of rare occur- 

 rence. The ej'es of the young Beaver are open at birth. The dam at 

 times brings forth as manj' as seven at a litter, but from two to five is 

 the more usual number. The young remain with the mother for at least 

 a year, and not unfrequently two years, and when they are in a place of 

 security, where an abundance of food is to be procured, ten or twelve 

 Beavers dwell together. 



About a month after their birth, the young first follow the mother, and 

 accompany her in the water ; thej' continue to suckle some time longer, 

 although if caught at that tender age, they can be raised without any dif- 

 ficulty, by feeding them with tender branches of willows and other trees. 

 Many Beavers from one to two months old are caught in traps set for old 

 ones. The gravid female keeps aloof from the male until after the 

 young have begun to follow her about. She resides in a separate lodge 

 till the month of August, when the whole family once more dwell 

 together. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



According to Richardson the Beaver exists on the banks of the Mac- 

 kensie, which is the largest river that discharges itself into the Polar 

 Sea : he speaks of its occurring as high as 67J or 68° north latitude, and 

 states that its range from east to west extends from one side of the con- 

 tinent to the other. It is found in Labrador, Newfoundland, and Canada, 

 and also in some parts of Maine and Massachusetts. There can be no 

 doubt that the Beaver formerly existed in every portion of the United 

 States. Catesby noticed it as found in Carolina, and the local names of 

 Beaver Creek, Beaver Dam, &c., now existing, are evidences that the 

 animal was once known to occupy the places designated by these com- 



