THE AMERICAN BEAVER 215 



seldom that any one sees a live Beaver in its haunts during 

 the middle of the day, but it is possible to do so during the 

 hour before sunset. In public zoological gardens and parks, 

 the persistence and success of this animal in avoiding obser- 

 vation are very disappointing to visitors and exasperating to 

 directors and keepers. 



This is the largest gnawing animal in North America. A 

 huge specimen caught in Maine, in 1900, weighed a trifle 

 over 50 pounds. A large one that once lived in the New 

 York Zoological Park was 31 inches long, had a tail 12 inches 

 long and weighed 44 pounds. 



The American Beaver is still found in a few localities, — 

 but in very small numbers, — from the Rio Grande in Texas 

 throughout the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Cas- 

 cade Mountain regions northward to the limit of trees, and 

 southeastward through Canada to northern New England. 

 The number now remaining in Colorado has been estimated 

 at one thousand. 



From 1907 to 1909 the average annual catch of Beaver 

 in North America was about 80,000 skins, but in 1912 the 

 largest fur house in London handled only 17,036. Beaver fur 

 is now rarely seen in the United States. 



The Beaver's efforts are directed toward its own preser- 

 vation and comfort. It builds extensive dams of mud, grass, 

 and sticks, in order to create ponds in which it can hide 

 from its enemies, maintain a safe refuge close by the wood 

 on which it feeds, and have an under-water doorway to its 

 house or burrow. More than this, the pond serves as a 

 refrigerator, in the bottom of which the animal stores its 



