BEAVERS (Castor fiber) 
The Beaver has a wide distribution in the temperate parts of 
Europe and North America, though its numbers are rapidly 
diminishing on account of the merciless way in which it has 
been hunted down for the sake of its pelt. This furnished the 
material from which top-hats and the like were originally made. 
Originally dwelling in a simple burrow scooped. out in a river- 
bank, the animal has gradually evolved into a skilled architect, 
capable of constructing a dam across the course of a stream, the 
framework consisting of the trunks and branches of trees felled by 
the powerful incisor teeth. Upon the dam rounded dwellings or 
“lodges” of mud are constructed, with openings well below the 
water level. The broad flattened tail is a swimming organ, and is 
not used as a trowel as often stated, 
