. Big game hunting in Africa and other lands; the appearance, habits, traits of character and every detail of wild animal life ... Hunting -- Africa; Animal behavior. 56 THE SrORY OF THE BEAVER. When possible the timber for the dam is cut "up stream" and floated down. Earth and stones carried by the beavers between their paws and chins are mixed in with the brush and logs, and last of all the dam receives a coat of mud, plastered on as neatly as if it were done by a skilled human being. There is a popular belief that the beavers use their tails as trowels when performing this work an
. Big game hunting in Africa and other lands; the appearance, habits, traits of character and every detail of wild animal life ... Hunting -- Africa; Animal behavior. 56 THE SrORY OF THE BEAVER. When possible the timber for the dam is cut "up stream" and floated down. Earth and stones carried by the beavers between their paws and chins are mixed in with the brush and logs, and last of all the dam receives a coat of mud, plastered on as neatly as if it were done by a skilled human being. There is a popular belief that the beavers use their tails as trowels when performing this work and smoothing the floors of their lodges. This is an error They use only their paws. The beaver's tail serves him only as a rudder when swimming and assist him in diving. He always slaps the water with his tail just before he dives, making a loud noise easily recog-. BEAVERS AND THEIR ENEMY, THE SEA OTTER. nized by trappers. The ''whack" of a beaver's tail against the water is also a note of alarm and warns his comrades of danger. The height of the water in a beaver dam is regulated by an opening through which the surplus water escapes. If the beaver wishes to lower the water he enlarges the opening, and closes it when he wants the water to rise. The length of a beaver-dam may occasionally be as much as one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, and their ponds rnay cover many acres. Fre- quently a formation of peat commences round the edges of the ponds, and this may extend over the whole area, converting it into a swampy tract known as a beaver-meadow. A considerable part of the city of Montreal is built upon such beaver-meadows. The outside of a beaver lodge is plastered over as carefully as the Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Lundeberg, Axel; Seymour, Frederick H. A. [Chicago, D
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectanimalbehavior, booky
