HOW BEAVERS WORK AND LIVE. 



BICKFORD 



While hunting mule deer last fall on the 

 Shell river I ran across a colony of 

 beavers and secured the enclosed series 

 of photos, which may be of interest to 

 your readers. As beavers are now scarce 

 authentic photos of their work are not 

 common. 



trees felled by beavers, the largest tree 

 measuring 14 inches across the stump. 

 The branches were cut up and carried to 

 the house for food. 



The beavers live in their houses during 

 the winter and feed on their store of green 

 branches, eating the bark off and allow- 















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BEAVER DAM. 



kMATEUR PHOTO BY G. BICKFORD. 



This colony was living in the house at 

 the time these photos were made and did 

 the work shown last summer. 



The dam is about 5 feet high, composed 

 of sticks and layers of clay, and is almost 

 water tight. The lodge is built of sticks 

 and clay, and is about 8 feet high. It 

 is a short distance above the dam, in the 

 deepest water. The other photo shows 



ing the peeled sticks to float away. These 

 are subsequently used to repair the dam. 

 A beaver is detailed for this duty, who 

 makes daily inspection of the dam and 

 does whatever may be necessary. The 

 ice often freezes 4 or 5 feet thick, so that 

 in order to have storage room under the 

 ice the water must be 9 or 10 feet deep 

 under the house. 



