Adirondack Beaver 153 



This dam had been dynamited twice by Mr. Covey during the week 

 preceding my visit. The beaver repaired it quickly each time and 

 except for the wreckage of the old dam below there was little 

 evidence that the structure had been damaged. Immediately above 

 this dam the water was 4 feet, 9 inches deep. The bottom 

 was of the same character as elsewhere. The pond above the dam 

 is about 50 feet across, its west shore is swampy, and it contains 

 grassy hummocks and clusters of dead trees. Beyond the dam 

 upstream for a distance of about 150 yards the creek has an esti- 

 mated average width of about 25 feet. Midway in this distance the 

 depth measured 4 feet, n inches, and at the upper end the 

 depth was 3 feet, 3.5 inches ; bottom as before. Beyond this 

 point, which marks the limit of progress by boat, the creek is so 

 shallow that the bottom can be seen in the brownish water. Other 

 dams and similar conditions occur at intervals along its course. 



The water of both the north and south branches is coffee-colored 

 so that where the depth is greater than about 20 to 24 inches the 

 bottom cannot be seen. In a cup of water however, the tinge 

 appears very slight. 



Other waters which were particularly pointed out to me as having 

 been excellent trout streams before the arrival of the beaver are 

 Constable Creek, the beaver works on which have previously been 

 described ; Pine Brook, a tributary of Raquette River between 

 Forked Lake and Long Lake; Oswego Pond (figure 12) in the 

 Twitchell Lake district; and Loon Lake, in the Beaver River region. 

 Pine Brook, according to Ranger Robinson, has in the past been 

 one of the best streams for trout both as to size and numbers. 

 For a time after the beaver came it continued to offer good fishing ; 

 then trout became less and less plentiful until now no one goes 

 fishing there (figure 23). 



Opinions Favorable to the Beaver. Champions of the view 

 that beaver are beneficial rather than harmful to trout are not 

 wanting. On the trail to Queer Lake, Big Moose Lake region, I met 

 a party of fishermen consisting of Mr. Frank Davis and his son, 

 of Mohawk, N. Y., and their guide, Mr. Hobart Casler. Mr. 

 Davis was emphatically of the opinion that the beaver are not 

 responsible for the scarcity of trout and the poor fishing complained 

 of by many people. He mentioned in support of his statement, 

 Queer Lake itself, in which there were plenty of trout although 

 small, that is less than 6 or 7 inches in length. That they 



