Aug. 19. I 9 H-] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
301 
The Beaver’s Ways 
Concluded from page 259. 
In this northern country beaver usually mate 
in April, giving birth to two to four young. The 
mammary glands are upon the breast of the ani¬ 
mal, usually four in number, two between fore 
legs and two forward on the breast. When the 
young are about six weeks of age the mother 
beaver may be seen pushing the little chaps out 
of the water into some sheltered nook upon 
shore, there teaching them to cut tender shoots 
of berry bushes, milk thistles, etc. Thus the 
training goes on until October, when, if the 
supply of food is limited in the neighborhood of 
their dams, the parent beaver will be seen ex¬ 
ploring further up stream, or upon fresh streams 
where a plentiful supply of food is to be ob¬ 
tained. A suitable place for a dam is selected 
usually at the head of shallows or rapids. Ad¬ 
vantage will be taken of every large stone, stump 
or tree to form a support to the dam. Brush is 
cut and floated to the site of the dam, butts 
placed down stream with ends in mud. These 
are placed clear across the stream, others are 
allowed to jam against the tops, forcing the ends 
more firmly into the ground mud. Old grass, 
sod, etc., are placed upon the brush, then more 
brush with butt ends always down stream, and 
firmly upon the bottom, then more mud. Thus 
the building goes on and soon large poles and 
in many instances large logs that the rising water 
in their pond causes to float are brought down, 
and in some manner they manage to float them 
far enough over the dam to permit the end to 
drop firmly upon the bottom of the stream below 
the dam, with the other end resting over the 
top o f the dam. Around this they build firmly, 
making an extra strong support. 
When the dam is completed, the upper side 
will be found to resemble a ramp; thus the 
water has a downward pressure, holding every¬ 
park ranger looking 
thing firmly. On the lower side the water falls 
over the hundreds of sticks, breaking all force 
ere it reaches the water below, preventing any 
washing out, etc. Some dams are built in con¬ 
vex form, but the greater number are built con¬ 
cave. The following spring the tag alder wood 
BEAVER HOUSE—PEELED WOOD 
used in construction will shoot up after the man¬ 
ner of the willow and form a hedge along the 
dam. However, this depends upon how late in 
the season the building has been done. 
The dam completed, house building is now the 
order of the day. Sticks are brought to a select 
spot in the pond and piled upon each other until 
a strong foundation is formed. Then a room 
is built by piling the sticks around the sides, 
gradually drawing in toward the top, forming 
a dome- shaped pile. This they cover with mud, 
leaving a small space clear on top for ventila¬ 
tion. There is one entrance to the house from 
the water. The floor of the house will be found 
to be covered with wood fiber torn up into fine 
shavings by those clever chaps, and among these 
shavings they make their beds. Usually, where- 
ever possible, beaver will also make a home in 
the banks of their pond by burrowing. In these 
bank homes the beaver usually sleep, using the 
house built of sticks as a feeding room, their 
floating on the water. 
winter supply of food being stored in immense 
piles beneath the water close to the entrance to 
the house. Their winter food consists of the 
bark of various trees, the trees being cut and 
drawn down paths cut out by the beaver to the 
water, then taken to their storeroom for winter 
use. Quite often water in portions of their 
ponds is too shallow to permit the floating of 
their brush with ease. This trouble they over¬ 
come by digging out a canal and quite often a 
tunnel. The earth they remove they usually take 
to their dams or place upon their houses, yet 
there are instances where they pile the earth so 
removed in out-of-the-way places. Beaver also 
will draw their wood to steep embankments and 
dump it into the water, evidently with a keen 
intelligence of the labor and time to be spared 
by doing so. Among the various woods cut and 
stored for winter use I have noticed the maple, 
beech, elm, ash, poplar, yellow, black and white 
birch, alder, willow, hazel, hemlock, balsam, 
cedar, also red and white pine. The bark of 
evergreen trees is said by the Indians to be 
used by the beaver for medicine. No doubt this 
is one of their jokes, yet many old trappers up¬ 
hold the statement as a fact. 
Soon the ice forms, snow falls, and all is 
quiet and no trace of the beaver is to be seen. 
He is then traveling beneath the ice. At differ¬ 
ent places along the banks of their pond they 
have dug out holes into which they go in time 
of danger, or when moving around they enter 
these places to rest and have a breathing spell 
before moving to the next hole. These holes 
(Continued on page 315.) 
for traces of poaching about a beaver dam. 
