148 CASTOROIvOGIA. 



much, exaggerated, there are grounds for believing that the ' ' beaver 

 eater ' ' was a very successful competitor with the beaver hunter, and 

 its distribution and disappearance have been strangely coincident 

 with that of the beaver. 



Besides the wolverine, both the bear and the otter are said to be 

 enemies of the beaver, and testimony points pretty clearly to the 

 latter devouring the young beavers. As to the bears, their depre- 

 dations are most likely to occur in the Spring, when awakening 

 from their long night's sleep, their appetites are most voracious, 

 and beaver meat would, probably, be sought for as a necessity as 

 well as a delicacy ; through the Summer the bear would prefer the 

 rich variety of vegetable food and the occasional meal of wild honey, 

 while in the late Fall he fattens on fruits, berries and nuts ; and then 

 selects his quarters for his hibernation. 



It is an unfortunate thing that the greater part of the knowledge 

 we possess of the habits and manners of animals is based on inform- 

 ation furnished by trappers and fur traders, for as Dr. John D. God- 

 man says, a "hunter's story" is too often synonymous with an 

 English word of three letters. In Godman's "American Natural 

 History" the author devotes seventeen pages to what he calls the 

 ' ' Fabulous History of the Beaver, ' ' which he introduces by admit- 

 ting that this part of the subject is richer in materials than any 

 other; and that there is "one circumstance peculiar to the history 

 of the beaver which has thrown over it more delusion than in the 

 case of almost any other animal. To these persons (the fur trader 

 and trapper) the beaver is a most important object, and regarded 

 with a degree of admiration and superstition exactly proportioned to 

 their ignorance. To become acquainted with the peculiarities of a 

 species both nocturnal and exceedingly timid and vigilant, requires 

 years of patient and assiduous attention." Further on, the author 

 accuses those who from their circumstances should have acquired a 

 knowledge of these matters, of taking a malicious pleasure in com- 

 municating ' ' the most false and marvellous relations ' ' and the fol- 

 lowing note, wonderfully suggestive of the application of salt to a 

 bird's tail, may be taken as an example: — "Their tail is covered 



