Haymaking 
Gibbs (1860) was the first to note that mountain beaver gather 
their cuttings into neat piles which they lay out to wilt or dry on logs 
or stones near their burrow entrances, Bretherton (1895) and Lyon (1907) 
confirmed the peculiar “haymaking" habit of the mountain beaver. Stephen 
(1906) stated that the animal carries the cured hay into its burrow as 
soon as it becomes well wilted, but not dried, Camp (1918) and Scheffer 
(1929) concluded that the cured hay is used for nest building material 
rather than for food consumption. However, Seton (1928) said that this 
may be true in the summer, when succulent plants abound. He pointed out 
that it is well known that the nesting instinct of rodents is closely 
akin to the food storage instinct. -He believed that the mountain beaver 
sleeps on its supplies, and uses them as food in the winter, when deep 
snow covers the ground, Hamilton (1939) wrote that the mountain beaver 
begins its haymaking activity in early August. 
Refection 
Pilleri (1960) and Ingles (1961) observed refection of captured 
mountain beavers, They stated that upon emerging from a rest period, 
the animal went to its fecal pile to defecate, When each oblong hard 
pellet was passed, the animal would take the pellet into its mouth and 
toss it onto the fecal pile, One mountain beaver which had returned to 
defecate was observed eating a pellet from its fecal pile. Another 
mountain beaver retrieved and chewed its last discarded pellet, 
In examining the large intestines of three adult mountain beavers, 
Ingles found that the soft pellets were fewer and roughly four times 
the volume of the hard pellets, The soft pellets were composed of 
light green, finely macerated material. The hard pellets were dark green 
and brown. In the stomach of another animal, he found unmistakable 
clumps of soft pellet material mixed with the harsher, dark-green stomach 
contents, 
Tree Climbing 
Lewis and Clark (1905) wrote that the mountain beaver climbs trees 
to trim and, like a ground squirrel, burrows into the ground. Stephens 
(1906) reported that the animal climbs bushes and small trees, trimming 
off branches 3 or 4 feet from the ground. Seton (1928) reported that the 
hunters claim that the animal can and does climb trees, and this was 
disputed by the naturalists who claimed that it can no more climb trees 
than can a mole or muskrat, Grinnell and Storer (1924) wrote that the 
mountain beaver is not known to climb. Scheffer (1929) mentioned that 
there was no evidence that the mountain beaver can climb trees, He 
stated, however, that the rodent climbs tall shrubs and saplings to a 
height of 12 to 15 feet from the ground, leaving stubs of trimmed branches 
as ladder rounds. The trimming process usually includes the terminal 
shoot, 
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