160 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



part of the keepers. Of the former group most of the complaints 

 were heard in the Big Moose Lake district. I learned of five lake 

 front properties here which had been molested more or less by the 

 beaver. On one property, situated on a point in what is known as 

 North Bay, I counted 9 aspens immediately about a cottage, which 

 had been felled by beaver probably within the last year. The trees 

 ranged from 4 to 10 inches in diameter. One had been felled so 

 as to lodge against the cottage roof. Altogether I counted 32 birches 

 and aspens, chiefly the latter, felled on this property ; but a number 

 of scattered cuttings were probably overlooked, for the owner 

 informed me that 42 beaver-felled trees had been counted last spring. 

 I saw at this place also a white pine 2 inches in diameter that had 

 been cut rather recently, and 4 smaller ones that were a part of 

 a newly planted group. A number of shade trees had been protected 

 by means of wire netting. In a neighboring yard an aspen had been 

 slightly gashed by beaver two nights previous to my visit. 



Most damage of this kind is done during the period of the year 

 when the people are not at their summer cottages. The resentment 

 of the owners is but natural. They take pride in making their 

 grounds attractive and trees are a fundamental part of such a scheme. 

 A beautiful tree that has required many years to grow may be cut 

 down overnight ; it cannot soon be replaced. Furthermore, in some 

 instances trees may have a sentimental value as in a case met with 

 where one had been planted by a member of the family since 

 deceased. 



Of course much can be done to prevent such depredations of the 

 beaver, by surrounding the more valuable trees with wire netting; 

 but where larger patches of forest are concerned this is not practic- 

 able, though a common enclosure might be sufficient in many cases. 



The most extensive cuttings on private grounds in the Big Moose 

 Lake district were on the property of Dr. Albert Van der Veer. A 

 pond on this property, known as Big Chief Pond, is shown in figure 

 27. It is about a hundred yards in diameter and was formerly a 

 very pretty body of water. In addition to trees killed by flooding, 

 due to a beaver dam across the outlet which more recently has been 

 kept open, the doctor estimated that approximately 200 trees had 

 been cut down by beaver about this pond in the last ten or twelve 

 years. A number of stumps of beaver-felled birches which I 

 measured there ranged from 6 to 15 inches in diameter. 



Wherever beaver depredations affect smaller property owners 



