HISTORY OF THE ADIRONDACK BEAVER. 407 



reached its lowest ebb. There could not have been more than five or ten 

 individuals — the equivalent of a single family — in the whole region, 

 and for a time it was even supposed that there were none, as the few sur- 

 vivors wisely deserted their familiar haunts and hid away in less frequented 

 corners of the same township. 



v^aved by, Protective Lav^s 



However, the end was not yet to be. As, when, in 1820, the Adirondack 

 beaver was on the point of being wiped out of existence to satisfy the 

 demands of the hatters' trade, it had been saved from early extinction by the 

 sudden introduction of nutria, so, now, in the very nick of time, it was saved 

 from a similar fate by the introduction of a law in the New York Legislature, 

 and by the passing of that law. For the first time, it prohibited absolutely 

 the taking of beavers in this State under severe penalty ; * and the trappers 

 were checked. I know not the man who drew this saving law, but to him 

 ma) 7 be attributed the fact that the beaver has never become completely 

 extinct within the borders of this State. Naturalists, sportsmen and Adiron- 

 dackers owe him a lasting debt of gratitude, whoever he may be. 



Slowly the numbers of the Adirondack beaver began to pick up; and 

 their increase soon after received an additional impetus through the inaugu- 

 ration of an intelligent plan to accomplish the actual rehabilitation of the 

 woods and waters of the Northern Wilderness with each of the valuable 

 mammalian forms which in aboriginal times had nourished there. 



In 1 90 1 an association of New York sportsmen and naturalists, organ- 

 ized for this purpose by the writer, obtained the passage of a law authorizing 

 the State Forest, Fish and Game Commission to " acquire by gift, purchase 

 or capture a sufficient number of wild moose to stock the Adirondack region " 



* The law of 1895 read, simply: " There shall be no open season for beaver." The penalty for 

 taking them was S50. and imprisonment might be inflicted. In 1904, a law, drawn by the present 

 ■writer, increased the penalty to Sioo, and extended the protection as follows: " Xo trap, snare, 

 pit, dead-fall or other device to entrap or entice beaver shall be made, set or .used, nor shall beaver 

 be taken by aid or use thereof. Xo person shall molest or disturb any wild beaver or the dams, 

 houses homes or abiding places of same." Except for an unimportant change of wording, this law, 

 as then drawn, stands to-day. 



