Adirondack Beaver i8 



texensis, limited almost wholly to Texas; C.c. frondator, of the 

 mountain region of the western and southwestern states ; C.c. 

 pacificus, of the Pacific Coast region of the United States, Alaska and 

 Canada. More recently, Mr. Vernon Bailey has descrihed three new 

 suhspecies, michiganensis, missouriensis, and mexicanus from speci- 

 mens from Michigan, the upper Missouri River in North Dakota and 

 from New Mexico, respectively. 



A giant slightly heaver-like rodent, of the genus Castoroides, at 

 one time occurred in North America. Judged by its fossil remains 

 this animal is believed to have been about the size of a black bear. 

 Its skull was in form strikingly like that of the present day beaver. 



The American beaver is a thickset, heavy-bodied animal, very 

 similar to the muskrat in general form of body. Its color is reddish 

 brown above and a paler grayish hue below. The tail averages about 

 15 or 16 inches in length. Its basal third, approximately, is hairy 

 and abruptly demarcated from the remaining part which is con- 

 spicuously scaly, broad and paddle-like, being flattened in the dorso- 

 ventral direction instead of from side to side as in the muskrat. 

 The legs are short, and the hind feet are large, the five toes being 

 connected by broad webs, giving them a striking similarity to the 

 feet of a goose or swan. The second toe has a peculiar "split nail" 

 the function of which is not perfectly clear, although it is believed 

 by some to be used in removing parasites from the fur. The fore 

 feet are also five-toed but relatively small. They are supplied with 

 rather long claws adapted for digging. The ears and the eyes are 

 small, the color of the latter black. The nostrils can be closed when 

 the animal is under water. The front surface of the upper and 

 lower incisors or cutting teeth is of a deep orange color. 



Outwardly the sexes cannot be told apart except by the more 

 conspicuous mammae in the female. 



The weight of full-grown specimens may vary from 30 to 60 

 pounds or possibly more. 



Historical 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam ('86, p. 253) says: "That the beaver was 

 once abundant in all parts of the Adirondack's is attested by the 

 numerous remains and effects of their dams ; but at present they 

 are so exceedingly rare that few people know that they still exist 

 here." Farther on the same author quotes DeKay, writing in 1841, 

 with reference to the same general region covered by the present 

 investigation (pp. 254-255) : "In the summer of 1840, we traversed 



