COMMON BEATER, 
29 
Such as are used to hunt these' animals, know 
perfectly well that green wood is much more ac- 
ceptable to them than that which is old and dry ; 
for which reason they plant a considerable quan- 
tity of it round their lodgments ; and as they come 
out to partake of it, they either catch them in 
snares, or take them by surprise. In the winter, 
when the frosts are yery severe, they sometimes 
break a large hole in the ice ; and when the bea- 
vers resort thither for the benefit of a little fresh 
air, they either kill them with their hatchets, or 
cover them with a large substantial net. After 
this, they, undermine and subvert the whole fabric ; 
whereupon the beavers, in hopes to make their 
escape in the usual way, fly with the utmost pre- 
cipitation to the water ; and plunging into the 
aperture, fall directly into the net, and are inevi- 
tably taken. 
The beavers seldom quit their residence, unless 
they are disturbed, or their provisions fail. When 
they have continued in the same place three or 
four years, they frequently erect a new house an- 
nually * but sometimes merely repair their old 
one. It often happens that they build a new 
house so close to the old, that they cut a communi- 
cation from one to the other ; and this may have 
given rise to the idea of their having several apart- 
ments. When their houses are completely finish- 
ed, they still carry on fresh works ; nor do they 
desist even when the pond is frozen over ; but con- 
tinue their employment for some nights after, 
if the frost is not too severe, through a hole 
in the ice, which they keep open for the pur- 
pose. 
During the summer, they forsake their houses, 
and ramble about from place to place ; sleeping 
under the covert of bushes, near the water-side. 
On the least noise, they betake themselves into the 
