CAN THE BEAVER BE SAVED? 97 
trying because they considered the beaver naturally 
ferocious, to a great extent solitary and a slow 
breeder. Seavel says that two old beavers rarely live 
together in one house or even in one small pond; that 
they fight and chase away any newcomers; that if a 
family grows up and is undisturbed in a pond or a 
‘deep bend of the river, its members keep all others 
of the species away, and that they attack and kill 
any one of their number that is found in a trap or 
sick or crippled. While he thinks that systematic 
breeding for fur is out of the question, he admits that 
the beaver should be protected all over the country 
until the few that remain increase and restock the 
streams.’’ 
If this is generally true, it may be found that 
the most profitable course for a beaver-culti- 
vator is to acquire control of a stream already 
tenanted by beaver, and guard them there in 
their natural life, taking only a proper propor- 
tion each year. 
