AN INVESTIGATION OF THE BEAVER IN HER- 

 KIMER AND HAMILTON COUNTIES OF 

 THE ADIRONDACK^* 



By Dr. Charles Eugene Johnson 



Roosevelt Fur Naturalist, Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment 

 Station, Syracuse, New York 



Contents 



Introduction. 



Part I. Status of the Beaver in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties, 

 i. Relation of the Beaver to the Timher. 



2. Relation to Waters, Fish and Fishing. 



3. Relation of Beaver Work to Deer in Winter and to 



Water Birds. 



4. Relation to Private Holdings within the Adirondack 



Preserve. 



5. Attitude of Local Inhabitants Toward the Beaver. 



6. General Public Interest in the Beaver. 



7. Sources and Numbers of Adirondack Beavers. 



8. Commercial Value and Possibilities. 



9. Summary and Conclusions. 

 10. Recommendations. 



Part II. The Natural History of the Beaver. 



1. Introduction. 



2. General Remarks on Habits. 



3. Breeding Habits. 



4. Enemies of the Beaver. 



5. Food and Feeding Habits. 



6. Beaver Architecture. 



7. Classification and Description, 



8. Historical. 



9. References to Literature. 



* In the first program presented to Theodore Roosevelt for the investigation 

 of wild life, provision was made for an intensive study of the beaver ; bin 

 funds for such an investioation were not forthcoming until Dean Franklin 

 Moon called the attention of the Trustees of the New York State College of 

 Forestry to this need, whereupon several of them responded with personal 

 contributions which supplemented by a contribution from the College, together 

 with the hearty cooperation of former Commissioner Ellis J. Staley of the 

 New York State Conservation Commission, have made the present recon- 

 naissance possible. — The Director. 



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