They have their young during June. When one year old they have two or three only, the next year as many as six, but in after years the average number is four. The young stay with their parents for two years and in the third year they leave and make a home or mate with others who are making homes for themselves. Under the old unwritten laws of the Indians, a trap must not be set closer than two hundred yards from a house, because the young beaver never go that far away from home, therefore only the two years and older ones would be caught. _Method of Drowning Beaver_ Owing to their custom of immediately using their teeth on anything that interferes with their liberty, a trap must be set in such a way that the animal drowns or he will in a very few seconds cut his imprisoned foot off close to the shoulder. The system of drowning is as simple as it is effective. Every trap chain has a ring on the end of it and is usually set on the edge of fairly deep water with the chain ring over a stick that has about half an inch of each branch left on, and has been shoved in the mud out in deep water. The first thing the beaver does when caught is to spring out into the water, taking of course train and trap with him, and the ring easily and naturally slips down the pole and when it reached the bottom immediately checks the flight of the beaver and does not allow him to even come to the surface again. Consequently, he is drowned in a very few moments. Ordinarily he can stay under water for about ten minutes, but when excited and fighting as he would do when caught, will drown quickly. _Beaver Tail Useful Implement_ The beaver uses its tail to steer with while swimming and to carry the mud necessary to construct his house. He will scratch a little pile of earth up with his fore paws, then turn around and scoop his tail under the loose mud, holding it stiff and straight out behind on the level of the water while he swims off to where building operations are going on. [Illustration: _Two fine, fat, 35 pound beaver_] _How the Beaver Stores Food_