NOTES ON ADIRONDACK MAMMALS. 327 



American distribution is from the Rio Grande in the southwest, northward, gen- 

 erally to the limit of tree growth. It is also found along the Colorado River 

 near its mouth. 



The American beaver is closely related to its European congener, which still 

 lives in some of the more remote rivers of eastern Europe. They are found as 

 far south and east as the Caucasus Mountains. We have little information about 

 their occurrence in Siberia beyond the fact that they are found there. 



It is almost impossible to estimate the part this animal played in the early 

 history of America. Its pelt was for a long time a standard of value, and so remains 

 to-day in certain districts in the far north. In the unbroken forest which extended 

 from Hudson Bay to Florida, the first clearings of the settlers were made by break- 

 ing out the beaver dams and draining their ponds. The dry mud flats thus exposed 

 yielded meadow hay the second year, and could soon after be tilled. Thus the 

 cabins of the first settlers came to be located along streams and rivers out of 

 supporting touch with one another when the Indian attacks came. 



The abundance of beaver is subject to fluctuation, and the animals will some- 

 times almost disappear from an entire district. They can readily be restored to 

 the Adirondacks, and if left undisturbed will rapidly multiply. Several pairs 

 of beaver have been recently liberated in the North Woods, and if this good begin- 

 ning is followed up, these interesting animals and their works will again be seen 

 along our streams and lakes. Beaver had become very scarce in the Adirondacks 

 by the beginning of the nineteenth century, but the war of 181 2 put a check 'to 

 hunting and trapping and allowed a great increase in the number of all the fur- 

 bearers. As soon as hunting was resumed after the war, beaver again disappeared, 

 and by 1840 were very rare. A few still linger on in the North Woods. 



When too much harassed, this animal ceases to build dams and houses, and 

 becomes what is known as 'bank beaver." The writer has in recent years 

 found bank beaver in the waters of Maine and the Maritime Provinces, and such 

 few individuals of the original stock as have survived in the Adirondacks 

 have adopted these habits. An ordinary beaver pond usually contains only one 

 family, but the deserted cabins of preceding years often cause an exaggerated 

 idea of the number of beaver in the pond. 



Some idea of the former abundance of beaver and their proportion to otter is 

 furnished by the statistics of the ten years following 1624, which show that 

 80,183 beaver skins and 7,247 otter skins were exported in those years from New 

 Amsterdam. In the twenty-five years from 1853 to 1877 the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany sold in London nearly three million beaver skins. In these later days, however, 

 the annual catch is rapidly declining. 



