The Tail Slapper 45 



share of the cherries to the robin, a few fish to the king- 

 fishers, and some young pea plants to the pheasants. But 

 these demands are as nothing to those of the beaver. The 

 robins ask for part of the fruit of one tree, but the beaver 

 asks, not for a little fruit nor for any particular part that can 

 be removed from the tree without injury, but, in effect, for 

 the whole tree, for many trees— and, as my marsh experience 

 showed, sometimes they take the whole grove. Often these 

 groves represent much of the lifework and wealth of the own- 

 ers. The silver poplars in the Arboretum had been carefully 

 planted and nurtured. The grove was a lovely thing. Would 

 tree lovers be willing to continue to donate such clumps for 

 a half-year's support of a colony of beavers? 



The beaver, like the wolf, was unlucky enough to run 

 smack into man's dollar. Its demands were too great to jus- 

 tify its existence within many densely populated districts. 

 It must have food and since this food was largely parts of 

 trees obtained only by the destruction of the tree, it was 

 obvious that it would not be tolerated in cerain areas. In a 

 place like the marsh and in small groves, trees could be pro- 

 tected by putting a wire screen around the base, an inex- 

 pensive and simple operation. This is not practical in large 

 areas because of the expense and patrolling required. Neither 

 is it any answer to the problem of retaining the beaver in 

 the locality, for if every tree within its reach is protected so 

 that it cannot be cut, it will hardly be possible for the beaver 

 to continue to exist. The problem has already risen in the 

 state of Washington, where beavers have attacked orchards, 

 valuable shade trees, and where they have constructed dams 

 which caused flooding. To date, the difficulty has been met 

 usually by the transportation of trapped animals from places 

 where they are not welcome to places where they are needed, 

 but in some cases it has been found necessary to trap and 

 pelt the animals. 



As I walk or canoe about the marsh I realize that the bea- 



