The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 987, November 26, 1898Various
General
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 987, November 26, 1898
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals
An attempt has been made to acclimatise the beaver in England again.
That it once bred in our country is proved by the fact that some fossil
remains of the animal have been obtained from the crag deposits in
Norfolk and Suffolk. These were, however, declared by Professor Owen to
have belonged to a much larger species of beaver than is now known. Sir
Edmund Loder has a number of the common species established in a little
valley stream in his estate, Leonard's Lea, near Horsham, carefully
protected, which are said to be thriving, and Lord Bute had a still
larger number established in Scotland; but it is not likely that they
will ever be at home in our country again. Whilst badgers and others
have had so much difficulty in holding their own, it is not likely
that the beaver could breed and thrive unmolested. Whilst writing the
present article, I have heard from Lord Bute that the last of his
beavers died some time ago.
In other parts of Europe it is found now only in small numbers, on
the banks of the Danube, the Rhone, and the Weser. In the northern
districts of Canada it is very numerous. Its range in America is from
the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi to the banks of the
Mackenzie River. At one time the demand for the fur--greatly in vogue
in those days for men's hats--was so large that it was feared this
clever little creature might become extinct, and the noted furriers of
the Hudson Bay Company took measures, in concert with certain Indian
tribes, for its protection, whilst still procuring large quantities of
its fur.
The most interesting feature in the natural history of the beaver is
their amazing skill in the construction of their dams and the dwellings
they make for themselves--"lodges," these are called. They are often
constructed in small rivers and creeks where the water is apt to be
drained off, when the supplies are dried up by winter frost. I spent
some time in Colorado near to a part of the Rockies where beavers
abounded, and where they were a never-failing source of interest to the
young folks in my friend's family. In Montana also they abound in vast
numbers. One of its counties is named Beaver Head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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