Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 



COCNS AGAIN INVADK WHITE-FISH IvAKE: 



With the development of agricultural districts the coon is taking up a permanent abode 

 along the south shore of Lake Superior. Last August (1912) the camp corn patch was 

 '.raided and in three nights most of the small crop was eaten by coons. 



fires. The succeeding second growth 

 consisted of poplar, cherry, black ash, 

 birch, and willow, all massed and of 

 small diameter, at the edge of these 

 water-courses. It is in this territory that 

 the beaver now seeks to establish his 

 home and where the commercial value of 

 the trees is least important. 



Through the complaint of a few lum- 

 bermen, echoed and re-echoed by design- 

 ing trappers, both the damage and the 

 abundance of the beaver has been greatly 

 exaggerated, resulting in an open season 

 on January i of the present year. Fully 

 two-thirds of the area suitable for beaver 

 now contains none. Instead of allowing 

 the trapping out of the beaver concen- 

 trated in their new settlements and ren- 

 dered incautious by reason of the previ- 

 ous closed season, it would have been the 



better part of wisdom for the State au- 

 thorities to have caught and transported 

 the surplus numbers to the hundreds of 

 streams and ponds containing none.* 

 Then, with an open season, the risk of a 

 quick extermination would have been 

 greatly lessened. 



In October, 1912, I heard of a large 

 beaver dam constructed during the sum- 

 mer about 30 miles northwest of Mar- 

 quette and within two hours' ride by au- 

 tomobile. The lodge was approaching 

 completion, and as I realized its future 

 occupancy was likely to be of short dura- 

 tion, it seemed proper that the camera 

 should take photographically what the 

 steel trap would take physically in less 

 than 90 days. On the afternoon of Oc- 



* One game warden of Dickinson County 

 reports 600 beaver taken in 90 days. 



797 



