208 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
parts. Practically speaking, their principal habitat 
is Canada, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico 
and Alaska. 
The animal is in general appearance much like a 
gigantic muskrat with a broad, flat, thick tail. 
The weight of an adult ranges from thirty-five to 
sixty or seventy pounds, length up to about forty- 
five inches, including tail, the scaly part of which 
is from seven to nine-and-a-half inches long and 
approximately half that width. The circumference 
of the body at its largest part is rather over two 
feet, and the heaviness of the build is shown by 
the measurement around the neck back of the 
ears, which is about fourteen inches. The front 
legs are very short with small feet having five 
toes. The hind legs are also short but much more 
heavily built and have the feet webbed from the 
base of each of the five toe-nails. All toes are fur- 
nished with strong nails, those of the front foot 
being slightly narrower and longer. On _ the 
second toe of the hind foot the nail is curiously 
cleft, presumably for the purpose of combing the 
hair. The palms of both feet are bare and nearly 
black in colour. A soft, rather thick hair covers 
the front hand, while the hind foot, which spreads 
to a width of about nine inches, is not so thickly. 
covered. The beaver’s tail, about which so much 
is written, is covered with thick fur and hair near 
the body, from which it suddenly appears like a 
broad paddle completely covered with a hard, scaly 
