306 TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



been at work in this neighborhood, and game protectors were immediately 

 dispatched to the point to protect the beaver. 



" ' While the State is spending money to import wild beaver and colon- 

 ize them in the North Woods,' said Mr. Whipple, 'it would be a crime to 

 kill a single one of these animals, and if we find that they have been trapped 

 or shot we will prosecute the offenders relentlessly. The colonies that we 

 have planted in other parts of the Adirondacks are flourishing, and there is 

 no reason why, before many years, the State may not be enriched by the 

 rapid increase of these valuable fur-bearing animals.' 



" The beaver along Fish creek were not some of those which have been 

 brought into the woods, but must have been some of the few remaining 

 natives. Commissioner Whipple caused the announcement to be made in 

 the Saranac region that he would pay $100 in cash out of his own pocket as 

 a reward for the conviction of any persons who might have been concerned 

 in the slaughter of any of the beaver." 



Protector Grenon, who investigated the doings of the trappers referred 

 to in the newspaper item, reported that none of the beaver had been killed 

 by them. He also said : ' ' The colony is a large one and is now working 

 further down stream. They have cut this spring about 176 trees, and they 

 cut something less than 100 last fall on which sprouts have since started, 

 indicating that the cutting was done before this spring. There must be 

 from twelve to fifteen beaver in the colony. Fish creek is in a rugged, 

 mountainous country, and formerly was a favorable section for beaver to 

 live in." 



A dtrav, Wolf filled 



A letter received from Edward S. Fellows, of Falconer, N. Y., stated 

 that on November 2, 1906, while visiting at Port Byron, eleven miles north 

 of the city of Auburn, he killed a gray timber wolf. According to his story, 

 his dog scented the animal and after a long chase he found it at bay and 

 killed it with a shot from a 32-calibre revolver. The specimen measured 

 five feet from tip to tip, and it is understood that it will be mounted for 

 exhibition. There is no explanation on the part of the old hunters in the 

 woods as to how this stray wolf came to be where it was found. The ani- 

 mal has long been supposed to be extinct in this part of the country. 



