178 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



gnaw off a branch and return to the lodge to feed. Through the 

 summer months the feeding grounds may be easily recognized 

 by the little heaps of peeled sticks found in shallow water along 

 the shore. In such places, partly submerged and partly concealed 

 by overhanging bushes, the animal sits quietly nibbling off the bark 

 from the twigs as they are held in the forepaws. 



Cuttings. Trees are cut clown primarily to secure food ; second- 

 arily the cuttings are used in the construction of lodges and dams, 

 but many boughs are cut and added to the dam, especially, without 

 first being stripped of their bark. 



In the majority of cases, when there is no snow, a tree is cut 

 at a height between twelve and eighteen or twenty inches from 

 the ground. The gnawing may be made entirely from one side, or, 

 as in the case with most of the larger trees, all around the trunk. 

 The literature contains records of trees 3 feet in diameter that have 

 been felled by beavers. The largest I happened upon in the 

 Adirondacks was an aspen 17.5 inches in diameter. 



Most cuttings are made within easy reach of the water but 

 at times the animals must go farther afield for their food supply. 

 In the Long Lake district a number of fresh cuttings were found 

 which had been dragged about one hundred yards, as paced, to the 

 water. 



In dragging the cuttings conspicuous trails are formed. Figure 

 29 shows where such a trail has been cut through the crest of a bank 

 about a hundred feet above the water along Cold River. Smaller 

 boughs are seized at the butt, the rest of the branch trailing behind 

 as the beaver moves forward ; while in the case of heavier poles 

 the animal probably is forced to move backward as he drags them. 

 According to Seton, "Small logs are rolled by one or more beavers 

 pushing with their hands, their shoulders, their hips or their whole 

 broadsides." 



The trees cut by the beaver fall in whichever direction they 

 happen to lean or as the wind or mere chance directs. Most trees 

 near the water lean that way. Numerous examples of poor judg- 

 ment and wasted efforts in tree-felling may be found in the woods 

 about many beaver ponds. Trees standing on the side of a hill may 

 have a spiral twist to the cut. brought about as the beaver moves 

 from a higher level to a lower, or vice versa, cutting around the 

 trunk. Each of the two cuts in the birch shown in figure 30 has a 

 definite spiral turn. 



