Syracuse Univ. Bull.. Volume 22 AUGUST. 1922 Number 7 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin (VOLUME I. NUMBER 2) OF The Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station OF The New York State College of Forestry AT Syracuse University Published Quarterly by the University, Syracuse, New York Entered at the Post Office at Syracuse as second-class mail matter / with the compliments cf TE3 ROOSEVELT TTILD LI 1:3 FOREST EXPERIMENT STITIOIJ Syracuse, New York THE LATE VISCOUNT TAMES BRYCE 1838-1922. Late Member of Honorary Advisory Council Syracuse Univ. Bull.. Volume 22 AUGUST. 1922 Number 7 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin (VOLUME I. NUMBER 2) OF The Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station OF The New York State College of Forestry AT Syracuse University Published Quarterly by the University, Syracuse, New York Entered at the Post Office at Syracuse as second-class mall matter ANNOUNCEMENT The Serial Publications of The Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station consist of the following: 1. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin. 2. Roosevelt Wild Life Annals. The Bulletin is intended to include papers of general and popular interest on the various phases of forest wild life, and the Annals those of a more technical nature or having a less widespread interest. These publications are edited in cooperation with the College Committee on Publications. Exchanges are invited. CHARLES C. ADAMS Director and Editor [102] Copyright, 1922 by Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY Ex Officio Ur. Charles W. Flint, Chancellor Syracuse University Dr. Frank P. Graves, Commissioner of Education Albany, N. Y. Hon. Alexander Macdcnald, Conservation Commis- sioner Albany, N. Y. Hon. Jeremiah Wood, Lieutenant-Governor Hempstead, L. I. Appointed by the Governor Hon. Alexander T. Brown Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. John R. Clancy Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. Harold D. Cornwall Lowville, N. Y. Hon. George W. Driscoll Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. C. C. Burns VVatertown, N. Y. Hon. Louis Marshall New York City Hon. William H. Kelley Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. Edward H. O'Hara Syracuse, N. Y. Hon. T. Henry Walters New York City Officers of the Board Hon. Louis Marshall President Hon. John R. Clancy Vice-President [103] HONORARY ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE ROOSEVELT WILD LIFE STATION American Members Mrs. CoRiNNE Roosevelt Robinson \e\v York City Hon. Theodore Roosevelt Washington, D. C. Mr. Kermit Roosevelt New York City Dr. George Bird Grinnell New York City Dr. GiFFORD PiNCHOT Harrisburg, Pa. Mr. Chauncey J. Hamlin Buffalo, N. Y. Dr. George Shiras, 3rd Washington, D. C. Dr. Frank M. Chapman Xew York City Col. Henry S. Graves Xew Haven, Conn. Ei RoPEA.v Members V^iscount Gkey Falloden. England Viscount Bryce* Forest Row, England Sir Harry H. Johnston Arundel, England * Deceased, January 22, 1922. [104] ROOSEVELT STATION STAFF Franklin Moon, M. F Dean of the College Charles C. Adams, Ph. D., ScD Director of the Station Alvin G. Whitney, A. B Assistant Director William Converse Kendall, A. M., M. D Ichthyologist VViLFORD A. Dence, B. S Assistant Temporary Appointments * Thomas L. Hankinson, B. S Ichthyologist** Perley M. Silloway, M. S Roosevelt Field Ornithologist Henry S. Pratt, Ph. D Roosevelt Field Naturalist Charles E. Johnson, Ph.D Roosevelt Fur Naturalist Aretas a. Saunders, Ph.B Roosevelt Field Ornithologist Collaborators * Edward R. Warren, B. S Roosevelt Game Naturalist Richard A. Muttkowski, Ph.D Roosevelt Field Naturalist Gilbert M. Smith, Ph.D Roosevelt Field Naturalist Edmund Heller, A. B Roosevelt Game Naturalist M. F. Skinner Roosevelt Field Ornithologist * Including only those who have made field investigations and whose reports are now in preparation. ** Resigned as Station Ichthyologist October i, 1921. [105] ROOSEVELT ON WILD LIFE INVESTIGATION " There must be ample research in the laboratory in order even to present those problems, not to speak of solving them, and there can be no laboratory study without the accumulation of masses of dry facts and specimens. " I also mean that from now on it is essential to recognize that the best scientific men must largely work in the great out-of-doors laboratory of nature. It is only such outdoors work which will give us the chance to interpret aright the laboratory observations." Theodore Roosevelt. THE RELATION OF FORESTS AND FORESTRY TO HUMAN WELFARE " Forests are more than trees. They are rather land areas on which are associated various forms of plant and animal life. The forester must deal with all. Wild life is as essentially and legitimately an object of his care as are water, wood, and forage. Forest administration should be planned with a view to realizing all possible benefits from the land areas handled. It should take account of their indirect value for recreation and health as well as their value for the production of salable material ; and of their value for the production of meat, hides, and furs of all kinds as well as for the production of wood and the protection of water supplies. " Unquestionably the working out of a program of wild life protection which will give due weight to all the interests affected is a delicate task. It is impossible to harmonize the differences between the economic, the esthetic, the sporting, and the commercial viewpoint. Nevertheless, the practical difficulties are not so great as they appear on the surface." Henry S. Graves, Former Chief Forester, U. S. Forest Service. Recreation, Vol. 52, p. 236, 1915. [106] Hamilton Counties of the Adirondacks Dr. Charles Eugene Johnson CONTENTS 1. An Opportunity for Great Public Service Col. Henrj- S. Graves 2. An Investigation of the Beaver in Herkimer and ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES 1 Plate 23. The Late Viscount Br^-ce, 1838-1922. Courtesy The Macmillan Plate 24. Colonel Henry S. Graves, Member of Honorary Advisory Council 112 FIGURES Figure i. Constable Creek, one of the sources of Big Moose Lake. View above second beaver dam from mouth of creek 119 Figure 2. Constable Creek; about a hundred yards above view in figure i ; showing beaver lodge and flooded woodland 119 Figure 3. Constable Creek; another view of the beaver flow. Mixed birch and spruce forest 120 Figure 4. Constable Pond; looking toward the outlet. Fringe of spruce timber under water 1 20 Figure 5. Constable Pond; flooded bay at inlet. Drowned timber chiefly of spruce 123 Figure 6. One of the dams in outlet creek of Lower Gull Lake; 146 feet long and 8 feet, 8 inches high 123 Figure 7. Twdtchell Creek; view a half mile west of highway. Spruce timber, long since drowned 124 Figure 8. Outlet creek of Russian Pond; showing dam two and a half feet high, damaging timber along the stream 124 Figure 9. Lower Gull Lake; dam at outlet flooding narrow fringe of forest around the lake 127 Figure 10. The lower of the Two Sisters Lakes; dam at outlet flooding a fringe of spruce timber 127 Figure 11. Beaver Pond at junction of Sunshine and Jack Pond Creeks, Twitchell Lake district 128 Figure 12. Dam at outlet of Oswego Pond, Twitchell Lake district. This has flooded an area extending half a mile above the pond. ... 128 Figure 13. Witchopple Lake; view of part of northwest shore and dam at outlet 131 Figure 14. \''iew along inlet creek of Witchopple Lake. Because of the low banks this beaverflow is submerging considerable spruce timber. 131 Figure 15. New dam on outlet stream of Razorback Pond, on property of Champlain Realty Company. Stand of large spruce above dam endangered by flooding 132 Figure 16. Beaver flow on creek entering Round Pond, northern Long Lake region 132 Figure 17. Beaver Pond on Pine Brook, northern Long Lake region. Chiefly cut-over and burned land, so that damage from flow is negligible. 135 Figure 18. Aspen, 17.5 inches in diameter, cut by beaver; north shore of Lake Eaton 135 Figure 19. Salmon Brook, Blue Mountain Lake region; dam 75 feet long and 3 feet high, causing flow about a mile in length 136 Figure 20. Salmon Brook, Blue Mountain Lake region. Dead spruce timber in the long flow on this creek 136 Figure 21. McCabes Creek, Indian Lake region; spruce killed in beaver flow. 139 ri07] io8 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin PAGE Figure 22. Creek entering inlet marsh, Big Moose Lake; view just below junction of the north and south forks. Formerly a good trout stream 139 Figure 23. View on Pine Brook, between Forked Lake and Long Lake, taken just above a beaver dam which had been torn out. Formerly a good trout stream 140 Figure 24. Beaver ponds on small tributary of Boulder Brook. Stream normally about two feet wide. No timber to damage here. 140 Figure 25. Beaver dam and pond on upper courses of Pine Brook, Cold River region; limit of a burned area. A good example of a beaver flow as a natural fire barrier 143 Figure 26. Part of meadow formed on site of old beaver pond; Grampus Lake stream, Long Lake region 143 Figure 27. Big Chief Pond, Big Moose Lake region. Part of south shore; beaver-damaged timber removed. An example of injury on a private estate 144 Figure 28. Beaver dam on Big Brook, Long Lake region; 172 feet long, 3 feet, 9 inches high. No timber to damage here. Beaver flows are frequently helpful to man for transportation purposes 144 Figure 29. Beavers' " tote road," cut through river bank; near Cold River. . 147 Figure 30. White birch with double cut having spiral turn. Tree on edge of little knoll; 3 feet, 7 inches in circumference above upper cut. Big Brook, Long Lake district 147 Figure 31. Hemlock one foot in diameter, partly severed by beaver; Loon Lake, Beaver River district 148 Figure 32. Small dam containing many stones; outlet of Trout Pond, Beaver River district 148 Figure 33. The large dam on McCanns Brook, Blue Mountain Lake district; II feet, I inch high at the creek's channel 151 Figure 34. Part of one of the wings of the high dam shown in figure 33 151 Figure 35. Huge beaver lodge on Cold River; longest diameter, 35 feet; shortest, 28 feet; height, 7 feet 152 Figure 36. Inhabited lodge, Sargents Pond (easternmost'* 152 Figure 37. The series of ponds beside Cooke City road near Camp Roosevelt, Yellowstone National Park. Taken from slope of Junction Butte above Yellowstone River bridge, showing location of ponds, large aspen grove on hillside, and the grove destroyed along the stream 189 Figure 38. Pond No. 2 beside Cooke City road, showing log-piles protecting the entrances to burrows. These log-piles may in time become lodges 189 Figure 39. The lower beaver trail leading across Cooke City road from the pond to the aspen grove above. Taken from north hillside above the pond 190 Figure 40. North Fork of Elk Creek, near Yanceys. The long dam photo- graphed from hillside above the easterly end 190 Figure 41. Freshly cut aspen logs, near pond on bench above Yanceys, August 10, 1 92 1. These trees are about 6 to 10 inches in diameter 193 Figure 42. The large pond at Crescent Hill; view from the upper end, showing beaver lodge and fringe of dead aspen 193 Figure 43. The long dam adjacent to Tower Creek; 275 feet long. In dense Engelmann spruce timber, now killed by flooding 194 Figure 44. Beaver trail on hillside above large pond. From the end of the long dam adjacent to Tower Creek (figure 43) 194 Figure 45. Pond on Lost Creek with three lodges; also showing steep hillside with aspen stumps; denuded to the edge of the lodgepole pine forest, 175 feet from the pond 197 Figure 46. Pond No. 14 on Lost Creek, showing gravel washed in. Illus- trating how an abandoned pond may become filled with silt and debris 197 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 109 PAGE Figure 47. Lost Lake, near Camp Roosevelt. A party of naturalists and boys from the Forest and Trail Camp on a beaver study excur- sion. Photo Alvin G. Whitney 198 Figure 48. Upper beaver meadows on Lost Creek above Yanceys, showing old dam. These were large ponds when Ernest Thompson Seton studied them in 1897 198 Figure 49. Side view of skull of a beaver, showing the chisel-like character of the front teeth 201 Figure 50. Cottonwood tree partly cut by a beav-er. The rule in the cut is 2 feet long. Trinchera Estate, Costilla County, Colorado, May II, 1913 201 Figure 51. Large aspen partly cut by beaver. The tree measured 4.6 f^et in circumference above the notch. Photographed July 22, 192 1 . 202 Figure 52. The large aspen after it had been felled. Photographed Sep- tember 4, 192 1. It was still standing August 28. The rule on the stump is six inches long 202 Figure 53. Beaver house and trails in snow. Near Slate River, 2.5 miles above Crested Butte, Gunnison County, Colorado, Oct. 20, 1905 205 Figure 54. Beaver trail in snow. Near Slate River above Crested Butte, Gunnison County, Colorado, Oct. 20, 1905 205 Figure 55. Willow brush in beaver pond, cut and stored by beaver. Near Crested Butte Colorado 206 Figure 56. A beaver dam near Brush Creek, Gunnison County, Colorado, showing pine logs projecting above the dam. An unusual occurrence 206 Figure 57. Dam in which willow brush was largely used in construction, and with which the face is covered. A good example of this type. Monument Creek, El Paso, Colorado 209 Figure 58. Section of beaver dam showing underpinning of sticks laid cross- wise to the current. Near Crested Butte, Colorado 209 Figure 59. Series of three beaver dams placed so as to form deep, quiet pools by the bank of the stream; on Slate River, Gunnison County, Colorado 210 Figure 60. Diversion dam on Camelian Creek, turning part of the stream onto the bank to stipply ponds there 210 Figure 61. The big lodge adjacent to Tower Creek, in midst of heavy Engelmann spriice forest. Diameter 24 feet; height 7 feet, 3 inches above the water 213 Figure 62. Beaver house cut open, showing chamber and entrance. Near Crested Butte, Gunnison County, Colorado, Sept. 5, 1902. . . . 213 Figure 63. Bank lodge on Camelian Creek. Doubtless during high water in spring this would be flooded and untenable 214 Figure 64. Lodge in one of the ponds along Cooke City road. An example of a house lodge built against the bank. Occupied by at least eight beavers 214 Figure 65. Upper water level on two-level canal at works adjacent to Tower Creek. The dam is under the log in the foreground 217 Figure 66. Lower water level connecting with pond, and earth slide or chute from dam. On two-level canal at works adjacent to Tower Creek 217 Figure 67. Canal and mud banks half a mile above group of ponds at the big spring by Tower Creek 218 Figure 68. Mud " sign heap " in upper Lost Creek; about a foot in diameter and four inches thick. The beavers deposit their castoreum on these piles perhaps as a means of communication 218 Figure 69. Beaver swimming. Photographed at the large pond at Crescent Hill; about noon July 22, 1921 220 Figure 70. Beaver crossing a dam. Photographed from beside the Cooke City road near Yellowstone River bridge in mid-afternoon. . . 220 1 TO Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin MAPS Map I. Map of western part of area examined in Herkimer and Hamilton Coimties southern Adirondacks, and showing location of beaver works At end Map 2. Map of the eastern part of area examined in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties, northern Adirondacks, and showing beave" activities. At end Map 3. Camp Roosevelt region, Yellowstone National Park, showing loca- tion of heaver works, 192 1 At end HENRY S. GRAVES Member of Honorary Advisory Council AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GREAT PUBLIC SERVICE Bv Hexkv S. Graves Deo 11, School of Forestry, }'alc Uiiircrsily Member of Honorary Adz'isory Council, The Roosevelt ]Vild Life Forest Experiment Station, Syracuse, Nezv York One of the most encouraging signs in recent years has l)een the changing public attitude toward the conservation of wild hfe. There is an increasing" volume of public protest against the unintelligent destruction of wild life that still characterizes many parts of the country. Of special significance, however, is the growing apprecia- tion of the value of wild life to the people of the nation. We are beginning to realize also that the perpetuation and right use of wild life involve much more than the enactment of perfunctory legisla- tion and the employment of politically appointed game wardens. Wild life is now seen to be a natural resource whose conservation and proper utilization are of real service in advancing the welfare of our people. While many persons may still think of wild life con- servation as primarily of benefit to a limited group of people who have a taste for shooting and fishing and who can afTord to indulge in it, their number is rapidly diminishing. The objectives of those behind the new movement of wild life conservation are much broader and more far reaching than this. It is a good deal like the good roads movement. There are many who see in it special advantages for pleasure drives for owners of automobiles, and the builders of motor vehicles may be strongly back of the movement for better roads. But the main objectives of good roads are the opening of the country to commerce, the development of communities and crea- tion of new and more comfortable homes, the stimulus to the use of undeveloped land, and the establishment of new industries, as well as the encouragement to people to come more closely in contact with nature. The i)rotection of bird life is no longer a fad of a few senti- mentalists. It is a practical problem of safeguarding the farm, field, garden and forest from insect pests. The dej^letion of our fisheries takes on new significance now that the price of fish in the market is approaching that of choice meats. In manv forest regions the jieople are beginning to see that an abundance of game and fish is attracting to their communities thousands of visitors who bring large benefits [113] Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin to the local communities. Farmers are making the discovery that the presence of wild life in pasture and woodland is a real financial asset. Purely on the economic side it has been shown that the meat value of the big game which is killed each year in the country amounts to no less than 15 million dollars and that effective game administration would in the long run increase this many fold. The economic value of the wild life resource is so great that the country can no longer afford to neglect the necessary measures to perpetuate and increase it. There is another side to the problem of wild life conservation, however, which is just as important and which fortunately is being increasingly appreciated. I refer to the part played by wild life in attracting people to the country for recreation and for the mental and spiritual stimulus that comes from a contact with nature. The movement for outdoor recreation is not primarily designed for amusement. It is to furnish the benefits that are derived from a complete relaxation and change from the routine duties of life and the inspiration that is derived from an intimate touch with the fields and woodlands and with the rugged scenery of the mountains. These benefits will be expressed in better health, greater efficiency, and a more wholesome point of view for those who are able from time to time to visit the points of interest in the country that are now being made readily available. One of the great attractions to draw the people into the country is an abundance of game, birds and fish. Many vacation visitors are interested in wild life chiefly for the opportunities offered for sport. The largest purpose of providing such sport through the conser\-a- tion and proper utilization of wild life is the benefit of a sojourn in the great out-of-doors. But there is an increasing number of people who derive enjoyment in observing game just as they enjoy the forests, the trees and flowers. More and more the study of wild life is becoming a pastime, for scientific study, for game pho- tograjjhy, for the mere pleasure of contact with conditions where wild life finds its home. The conservation of wild life is peculiarly a public problem. In the first place the game and fish belong to the public itself, which holds it in trust for the benefit of the people of the country. An individual does not actually own the fish and game which may abound upon his j^roperty. Even if the game and fish within the boundaries of his property are the result of expenditures in pro- tection and in breeding, they still l)elong to the public and he can utilize them onlv under the state laws. He can exercise a certain Opportmiit X (or Public Scn'icr control over the wild life on his land because he can prevent trespass, but if it should go beyond the boundaries of his tract he cannot recover it as in the case of domestic animals. The wild life resource within a given state does not represent the aggregate of property owned by individuals in the state but it is an asset of very great value owned by the people as a whole. There is therefore a direct respon- sibility on the part of the public to safeguard and perpetuate it. The existence of jirivate preserves and the efforts of individuals to protect the wild life upon their property through the trespass laws and to increase it through special measures are of great assistance. Many private indi\-iduals find that the benefits, financial or other- wise, derived from having an abundance of wild life upon their property are such as to induce them to take measures for its con- servation. Such i)rivate efYorts are not, however, in the aggregate sufficient to insure the perpetuation of the wild life resources. Greed £ind selfishness, indifference and unintelligence are still operating to deplete and in some places actually exhaust the fish and game and to make necessary stringent laws and a much more effective adminis- tration of them than is general in the country today. Very frequently we make reference to the former days when the forests abounded in game and the streams with fish. We are only just beginning to realize that we now face very different conditions from those existing when there was a wilderness of greater or less extent in nearly all regions of the country. The wilderness is rapidly vanishing. Everywhere we are building roads to make acces- sible the most remote parts of the country. The very movement for outdoor recreation which we are encouraging in every way is increas- ing the difficulties in the conservation of wild life. Under these conditions we have the task not only to maintain the wild life with- out further depletion but also the problem of restoration and rebuild- ing where wild life has been exhausted or is approaching exhaustion. Still again the advance of industry, of agriculture, of stock raising and other phases of land utilization, is in many instances restricting the natural home of wild life and frequently the land formerly used by game for winter feeding grounds and for breeding is now occu- pied for industrial activities. The old idea that a little protection is all that is needed for the perpetuation of wild life is no longer applicable. This is a tradition from frontier conditions when the population was still so small and the wilderness so large that the balance of nature could easily be maintained or, if impaired, could be restored. Nature is very pro- ii6 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin lific. Its power of recuperation under abuse is astonishing, but the adverse factors are l^ecoming so great that the wild Hfe can no longer sustain itself without very definite measures of assistance. We now begin to see that the rule-of-thumb methods of protection are no longer adequate. We must provide an administration of wild life by the public which is based upon a knowledge of the habits and life history of the different species, upon a knowledge of their specific requirements for food and for breeding places, a knowledge of their productive capacity, a knowledge of their natural enemies and diseases, etc. Such knowledge can be obtained only through intel- ligent study and scientific research. We must have laws for the protection of wild life, but no laws can be applied automatically. There must be provision also for intelligent administration adapted to the requirements for building up the supply of wild life. The principles of public policy expressed in legislation and the methods of administration will depend upon the results of the studies of scientific agencies. New York State possesses a wild life resource which has a direct economic value of many millions of dollars and an indirect value to the people that cannot Ije measured. \ ery wisely the State has now provided for research and experimental work that will lay the foundation for maintaining and increasing this resource. The oppor- tunities before the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station for public service are very exceptional. Liberal support should be given to it to make possible the conduct of investigations of the most thorough scientific character. Through the work of this institution sound knowledge will replace guesswork as a background for the pul)lic policies and for field practice in matters pertaining to wild life in the State. It is a gratification that the Experiment Station is intimately related to forestry. Certain classes of wild life make their home in the forests. No forester can overlook the increased service of the forest through the presence of game and fish. In many instances the provision for the needs of game constitutes an important factor in the plans of developing and administering a forest. More and more the responsibility for protecting and supervising the game and fish will fall upon the foresters themselves. As they show their competence, the public will increasingly place the work in their hands. The work of the Roosevelt Experiment Station will be of great educational value to foresters, not only through the results of the research but in demonstrating the intimate relation between forestry and wild life conservation. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE BEAVER IN HER- KIMER AND HAMILTON COUNTIES OF THE ADIRONDACKS* Bv Dr. Charles Eugene Johnson Roosevelt Pur Naturalist, Roosevelt ll'ild Life Forest Experiment Station, Syracuse, Nczv York Contents iiitruductudi. Part I. Status of the Beaver in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties. 1. Relation of the Beaver to the Timber. 2. Relation to Waters, Fish and Fishing. 3. Relation of Beaver Work to Deer in Winter and to Water Birds. 4. Relation to Private Holdings within the Adirondack Preserve. 5. Attitude of Local Inhabitants Toward the Beaver. 6. General Public Interest in the Beaver. 7. Sources and Numbers of Adirondack Beavers. 8. Commercial Value and Possibilities. 9. Summary and Conclusions. 10. Recommendations. Part II. The Natural History of the [leaver. T. Introduction. 2. General Remarks on Habits. 3. Breeding Habits. 4. Enemies of the Beaver. 5. Food and Feeding Habits. 6. Beaver Architecture. 7. Classification and Description. 8. Historical. 9. References to Literature. * In the first program presented to Theodore Roosevelt for the investigation of wild Hfe, provision was made for an intensive study of the beaver; Inn funds for such an investi^^ation were not forthcoming until Dean Franklin Moon called the attention of the Trustees of the New York State College of Forestry to this need, whereupon several of them responded with personal contributions which supplemented by a contribution from the College, together with the hearty cooneration of former Commissioner Ellis J. Stalcy of the New York State Conservation Commission, have made the present recon- na.issance possible. — The Director. [1171 ii8 Roosevelt Wild lAfc Bulletin Introduction The following report is the result of a pi-eliminary survey under- taken for the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station of the New Y(jrk State College of Forestry at Syracuse, which has 1)een Ijased upon field work extending from July 27 to September 9, 1921. The area chosen for the investigation lies in northern Herkimer and Hamilton counties along the southern border of the Adirondack Mountains. This territory, according to information furnished by Mr. W. G. Howard, Assistant Superintendent of Forests, of the New York State Conservation Commission, marks the center of abundance of beaver in the Adirondacks, and from this area have come the most insistent reports of damage resulting from activities of these animals. On the accompanying maps ( maps i and 2 ) are shown the locali- ties visited by me personally in the course of the investigation and also other sections, according to definite information given me by Forest Rangers and other persons, in which beaver are now to be found. This does not mean that beaver may not be present in the localities which are unmarked on the maps. In designating the position of beaver dams and lodges the maps at my disposal were on too small a scale to permit exact location, so that places marked represent only an approximation. While the maps show all the dams and lodges actually seen by me, and recorded on the spot for each stream and pond as far as they were explored, it is to be expected that a number may have escaped my notice. This is especially true in the upper courses of many creeks visited, where more beaver works would undoubtedly have been found had there been sufficient time to search for them. It was apparent after a few days in the field that it would be out of the question, in the time available, to examine personally all the localities in which beaver probably occurred. In regard to many places which I was unable to visit I obtained information from the Forest Rangers, and the locations of the dams were marked on the map as indicated. The Rangers expressed their conviction that most of the streams in all of this region have at least a few beaver somewhere along their courses. Care was taken to record all lodges observed in order to have a basis for an estimate of the beaver population. In so doing it was. of course, necessary to distinguish between occupied and abandoned lodges. In some localities many beavers do not build lodges, but live in holes in the banks, and allowance must, therefore, be made for Fig. 2. Constable Creek, about a hundred yards above view in figure i ; showing beaver lodge and flooded woodland. Fig. 3. C oiistablc Creek ; another view of the beaver flow. Mixed birch and spruce forest. Fig. 4. Constable Pond, looking toward the outlet. Fringe of spruce timber under water. Adirondack Beaver 121 these. Likewise along some streams the Ijeavers do not ljuild dams. Where dams occur they alone do not furnish any safe index to the number of animals engaged, for a family of beavers may build one dam or several as conditions may prompt them. The visible results of beaver operations are frequently all out of proportion to the number of animals in\olved in the performance. A dam built by a single individual or by a pair of beavers, if placed in a favorable situation may cause such an extensive flooding" or flow as to lead one to believe that a dozen or more had been engaged on it. With sufficient time in a given locality it is quite possible to arrive at a fairly close estimate of the number of beavers, by careful watching for the animals themselves and by examination and comparison of various signs, but obviously in a large area and with limited time only a rough estimate could be made. However, lodges and dams taken together give at least some idea of the character of the dis- tribution of the beavers along the streams ; and from this one mav draw tentative conclusions as to the density of the beaver population. In the regions investigated the Rangers were always asked to direct or take me to the localities, if accessible, which were known to have the largest number of beaver and where the most extensive damage was being done. A short account of the natural history of the beaver is included, as Part II, in this report because such knowledge of its behavior is a necessary background for any intelligent understanding of the beaver problem, and it may be of use, also, to the large number of visitors and dwellers in the Adirondacks who are interested in wild life and who do not have access to reliable information. To most people who enjoy the out-of-doors, the beaver with its wonderful instincts, has a fascination equalled by few other animals. By reason of its shy and retiring hal^its, when living where it is fre- quently disturbed, it is seldom seen by the visitor to its native haunts, and is therefore known to him chiefly by its works. These works, which are often on a large scale, seem so perfectly adapted to the animal's needs and so similar to human engineering that one is readily led into accepting them as the product of a directing intel- ligence of a very high order. It is not strange that many fanciful tales have been written and told about this master builder of the wilds. I wish to acknowledge the helpful cooperation given me in the prosecution of this work by the officials of The New York State College of Forestry and the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment 122 Roosevelt Wild Life Bwlciiu Station, as well as by former Commissioner Ellis J. Staley of the New York Conservation Commission, Mr. W. G. Howard, Assistant Superintendent of Forests, and Chief Llewellyn Legge of the Divi- sion of Fish, and Game. For assistance in the field I am indebted to the Forest Rangers of the Conservation Commission, and especially to Mr. David Conkey of Beaver River, and Mr. Isaac B. Robinson of Long Lake, in whose districts the most of my time was spent and who placed all their available time at my disposal. Mr. Howard kindly placed in my hands maps and re])orts which greatly facilitated my work. PART I. STATUS OF THE BEAVER IN HERKIMER AND HAMILTON COUNTIES Relation of the Beaver to the Timber It may be safely stated at the outset that wherever beavers occur in a wooded region, a certain amount of damage to forest trees of one kind or another, large or small, is an inevitable accompaniment of their presence. In the region covered by this investigation the damage to timber appears to be the most definite and serious charge placed against the species at the present time. This charge at least has the virtue of being susceptible to ocular proof. The seriousness of this kind of damage of course depends upon its magnitude. In 1919, according to Commissioner George D. Pratt, of the New York Conservation Commission ('20, pp. 48-51), Forest Rangers estimated that a total area amounting to 8,681 acres had been flooded as a result of beaver dams in the Adirondacks and that the merchantable timber that had been killed or was being killed in this area had an estimated value of $51,425.00. In this report 587 beaver dams had been counted, which comprised only a part of all the dams scattered throughout the Adi- rondacks. In 1920 this damage had been increased ('21, p. loi) by $3,410.00, or to a total of about $55,000.00. Damage to timber by beavers results from two activities of the animals: (i) The cutting or girdling of trees, and (2) the damming of streams and ponds. Damage through Cutting and Girdling of Trees. The total damage done by cutting or girdling of trees of all sizes and descrip- tions is entirely negligilile in comparison with that resulting from flooding. The beaver, however, like the lumberman, is wasteful in his methods and much that is cut down is not utilized. As a general Fig. 5. Constable Pond; flooded bay at inlet. Drowned timber chiefly of spruce. Fig. 6. One of the dams on Outlet Creek of Lower Gnll Lake ; 146 feet long and 8 feet, 8 inches high. Fig. 7. Twitchell L'reek; \ic\v a half mile west of highway. Spruce timber. long since drovNTied. Fig. 8. Outlet Creek of Ivussian Pond; showing dam two and a half feet high, damaging timber along the stream. Adirondack Beaver rule I have found the heaver more extravagant and destructive when he is working in a locaHty of large trees, than where small growths of the same kind of trees occur, hecause when a sapling up to three or four inches in diameter is felled, the hark not only of the branches but also of the entire trunk is utilized for food, while in the case of larger trees, eight to ten inches in diameter and above, usually only the limbs are selected ; and often most or even all of these are left untouched. During this investigation in the Adirondacks the amount and kinds of cuttings were found to vary considerably with the locality. When aspens, or poplars, as they are locally called, occurred in fair abund- ance among other kinds they of course were the principal trees cut. Next in order came the birches, and in many localities these were the most common cuttings, not from choice but because of scarcity or absence of the more favored aspen. The largest beaver-cut trees found were birches and aspens measuring from 12 inches to 17 inches in diameter at the lower end of the cut. Young beeches were occasionally found cut, and many small maple saplings ; also, in burned-over districts, many small wild cherry trees and a considerable number of larger ones, three to six inches in diameter. Other kinds of trees or shrubbery cut by beaver were alders, willows, raspberry, ash, spruce, hemlock, balsam fir and pine. The spruce, balsam fir and pine were all of small size, an inch or two in diameter, and were merely such occasional cuttings of conifers as one usually finds in beaver haunts. One hemlock a foot in diameter was cut about two- thirds through, and a little one near it had been completely severed. Trees of various kinds were frequently seen which had been merely girdled and then permanently abandoned. Damage through Flooding of Timbered Areas. No attempt was made by me to estimate the number of acres of timber of any sort flooded in the various localities. Such estimates have however, been published (Pratt '20, p. 50). Many l^eaver flows contain no merchantable timber, while others contain patches of it here and there. The actual acreage is in the very nature of the conditions difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy without detailed surveys. To give a detailed account of all or even most of the many locali- ties where timber of one kind or another, and in very variable amounts was found damaged or killed in beaver flows, appears neither necessary nor desirable at this time. In order, however, to 126 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin convey some idea of the situation as actually encountered it will be important to describe conditions in a number of localities in the principal areas investigated. For this purpose I have selected all the beaver flows in which the most extensive damage was found, some examples to show where little or no damage has resulted or is likely to occur, and others which represent fairly average conditions or noteworthy features in other respects. I. Big Moose Lake Region. The most extensive flooding and killing of timber in one continuous body is found along Constable Creek (map i). From within approximately half a mile of the mouth of this creek, which is in Big Moose Lake, and extending to Constable Pond, there is a belt of drowned timber which, according to my estimate, varies in width from about lo rods at the lower end to perhaps i8 or 20 rods as it approaches Constable Pond; from there a much narrower fringe extends along the north and south shores of the pond. At the eastern end of the pond the two fringes meet in a bay into which empties Pigeon Creek, and this bay contains a close stand of dead timber, the bulk of it is spruce. The entire distance of this flow is about two miles. On the creek I located five dams in repair. The smallest of these was near Big Moose Lake and was about 25 feet long and only 15 inches high, between the water levels. It was in good repair when I saw it although it had been repeatedly torn out previously, as it was on private land ; there- fore no damage had resulted from this dam. The next dam, approxi- mately half a mile up stream, was about 40 feet long and i foot 6 inches high and marked the beginning of the long flow (figure i). The uppermost dam was the largest, being about 300 feet long and 4 feet high between the upper and lower water levels. In the stretch included between the second and the uppermost dam four beaver lodges were found, two of them inhabited and possibly also the third, while the fourth had been abandoned. Figures 2 to 5 inclusive show the conditions as they were found in this flow. It will be noted that much of the timber is mixed spruce, birch and balsam fir which at the time it was killed constituted a rather young growth in a cut-over district, the trees being about 5 to 8 inches in diameter and smaller. Constable Creek offers a good example of the effects of beaver dams of very moderate size and relatively few in number when placed across small streams normally only a few feet wide but whose Imnks are low. As an example of a type of stream where little damage to timber can result even from large dams, may be mentioned the creek form- Fig. 9. Lower Gull Lake; dam at outlet flooding narrow fringe of forest around the lake. Fig. 10. The lower of the Two Sisters Lakes ; dam at outlet flooding a fringe of spruce timber. Fig. II. Ika\cr pond at jiinctinii of Sunshine and Jack Pond (.'reeks. Twitchell Lake district. Fig. 12. Dam at outlet of Oswego Pond. Twitchell Lake district. This has flooded an area extending half a mile alxjve the pond. Adirondack Beaver 1 29 ing the outlet of Lower Gull Lake. Seven dams were encountered on this stream. Two of these were the highest found in this region, and are located about half way between Lower Gull and Big Moose lakes. The lower dam was 119 feet long and 6 feet high at the stream's channel. The upper one was 146 feet long and measured 8 feet, 8 inches in height. The banks of the creek are here rather steep, the area covered by the ponds above the dams was very small and the damage by flooding negligible. These dams were of several years' standing (figure 6). 2. TzL'itclwll Lake Region. Twitchell Creek, just west of the road, presents a stretch of timber of respectable size killed Ijy beaver flows of past years, although in this part of the creek I saw no evi- dence of present activity. Figure 7 is a typical example of what I found along this creek for a distance of about a mile below the road. Three abandoned lodges and three' old dams that evidently had been torn out by human hands were observed in this distance. The ponds and lakes in the Big Moose-Twitchell lakes region, which were visited and found to have dams across their outlets, are Chub Pond, ]May's Pond, Big Chief Pond, Russian Pond, lower Two Sisters Lakes, Lower and L'pper Gull lakes and Queer Lake. At the outlet of the last named is a recently constructed dam as yet small so that the water level of the lake has not been seriously affected. On the outlet creek of Russian Pond is a dam about 65 feet long and 2 feet, 6 inches high, situated approximately 40 rods below the pond itself (figure 8). The dam has not damaged the pond because of the slope of its shores, but between the pond and the dam is a belt of drowned timber averaging probably 65 to 70 feet in width. The timber is mostly small spruce and the amoimt of damage is not serious. Below the dam the creek is about ten feet wide. At the outlet of Lower Gull Lake is a dam about 90 feet long and 2 feet, 6 inches high, followed by two smaller dams at seventy- five foot intervals down-stream. The shore line of the lake has a fringe of dead trees, small or medium sized, which varies perhaps from 30 to 50 feet in width. The dam at the outlet is shown in figure 9, while figure 1 1 shows a flooded bay on the west shore. Upper Gull Lake presents similar conditions but at the time of my visit the water had gone down considerably as the result of dis- repair of the dam at its outlet. The lower of the Two Sisters Lakes has a narrow fringe of dead trees of small size along the north shore and in a bay east of the I30 Roosevelt Wild Life Bullrtin outlet. Where the outlet stream leaves the lake there is a new dam 117 feet long and 2 feet, 6 inches high. The ground bordering the outlet is low and the dam has caused a flooding of probably two or three acres of timber, mostl}- fair-sized spruce, which is d3-ing. Figure 10 shows the dam at the outlet. Lily-pad I\)nd ( Twitchell Lake district ) is surrounded by a ])elt of dead timber about 40 to 60 feet wide, chiefly medium-sized spruce. This pond and a small one to the southwest of it, originally separate, have now been made into one pond as a result of beaver flows. At the outlet of this greater pond is a dam 85 feet long and 3 feet, 9 inches high. The water above it at the time of my visit was 8 inches below the crest of the dam which had been torn open at one end by men, and had not yet been repaired by the beavers. The condition of the neighboring Little Birch Pond is similar. At the outlet of South Pond is a dam 90 feet long and 3 feet high ; but the banks are steeper here and the amount of dead wood as a consequence is negligible in quantity. A beaver pond formed at the junction of what is known locally as ''Jack Creek" and "Sunshine Creek" is shown in figure 11. The greatest damage to timber in any one patch in this district is about Oswego Pond (figure 12), especially along the small creek entering it from the west. Here the flooded area extends for half or three-quarters of a mile upstream from the pond. On the inlet creek from the northeast se\en dams were found, one of w^hich was about 100 feet long and 3 feet high. Towards the upper limits of this creek the banks are higher and no serious damage is likely to occur. In both the Big Moose Lake and the Twitchell Lake districts about all the damage to timber that can result from beaver dams has already been accomplished. This statement is supported also by the expressions of the District Ranger and local inhabitants. 3. Beaver River Region. One of the smaller lakes of this region is Loon Lake. Across the outlet on its northeast side is a dam about 60 feet long and 2 feet, 6 inches high. As a result of this dam there are patches, covering perhaps three or four acres, of recently drowned spruce and cedar on the northwest and northeast shores. The southwest shore at the inlet, contains a larger patch, my estimate being in the neighborhood of seven or eight acres. A small creek known locally as the "North Branch" enters the Fig. 14. View along inlet creek of Witchopple Lake. Because of the low banks this beaver flow is submerging considerable spruce timber. Fig. 15. New dam on outlet stream of Razorback Pond, on property of Lham- plain Realty Company. Stand of large spruce aboAe dam endangered by flooding. Fig. 16. Beaver flow on creek entering Round Pond, northern Long Lake region. Adirondack Beaver 133 Beaver River Flow from the northeast, ahnost due north of Beaver River Station. The beavers have just recently started their build- ing operations here and three dams not more than a foot or a foot and a half high have been placed across the creek near its mouth. The ground bordering is very low and it is necessary only to raise the water a few inches in order to affect perhaps eight or ten acres of spruce in which are included a number of very large pines. A part of this timber is already turning yellow. The most extensive damage to timber in this district is at Witch- opple Lake. At the outlet of this lake is a dam about 175 feet long and 2 feet, 6 inches high between the water levels (figures 13). On the adjacent northeast shore is a patch of dead timber, and a belt also extends eastward along the same shore, visible in the photograph. The greater part of the lake shore, however, is still unaffected because of the incline of the ground. The full effect of the dam may be seen along the inlet stream at the northeast end of the lake. Because of the low ground bordering this creek the high water of the lake has inundated the banks the full length of the stream, from Witchopple Lake to what is called "Beaver Dam Pond," a distance of approximately half a mile. The width of the dead timber belt was estimated to vary from about 20 to 25 or 30 rods. The timber is predominantly spruce. Figure 14 is a view along this creek. At Woods Lake complaint had been made in regard to a new beaver dam on the creek which is the outlet of Razorback Pond. The dam in question was found to be about 55 feet long and i foot, 1.0 inches high, firmly anchored against large boulders (figure 15). The ground above it is low and the dam is favorably placed for flooding a comparatively large area with but slight increase in its height. A fine stand of spruce is already in water and unless the dam is torn out this timber will be damaged. 4. Sabattis Region. In this territory (map 2, insert), accord- ing to Ranger Willard Sutton, the damage to timber has been insig- nificant because the land has previously been denuded by logging and fires. But a case of Ijeaver trouble of a different sort was met with here which may be mentioned at this point. About two miles northeast of Sabattis station the New York Central Railway crosses the outlet creek of Little Trout Pond. This creek is nor- mally a very small stream and a tile culvert forms its conduit under the roadbed. A beaver dam a short distance down stream has 134 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin backed up the water so as to form a pond on both sides of the embankment. In ackHtion to this the beaver continually plug up the culvert, I was informed by one of the section crew, so that the men were obliged to tear out the obstruction every day. 5. Long Lake Region. Round Pond lies east of Long Lake in Township 50 (map 2). Where the southwest inlet creek enters the pond there is a dam which rather recently has flooded and killed several acres of timber extending upstream along the creek. On the northern tributary of this creek are two dams of considerable size, only a short distance apart. The upper one measured 125 paces in length and was i foot, 6 inches high. A belt of dead timber estimated to be from 12 to 18 rods wide extends upstream from these dams for a distance of about half a mile (figure 16). On Pine Brook, a short distance to the north of Round Pond, there is a dam, about a mile distant from Long Lake, which is 100 feet long and 4 feet, 4 inches high between water levels; measured from the bottom the dam is 8 feet high. It is situated at a narrow part of the brook, with low ground just above it where a large pond has resulted (figure 17). Beginning with the pond the dead timber, which is rather small, extends upstream for a distance of about a mile. This is cut-over land, and farther up- stream the creek flows through a burned area where beaver dams are of no consequence so far as timber is concerned. Entering Long Lake on the east shore. Township 22, lot 50, is an insignificant stream known as " Old Landing Creek." This was explored for a distance of about three miles. Three dams were located, the largest of which was 150 feet long and 5. feet. 3 inches high from the bottom. These dams had been torn open on August 18 by Ranger Isaac Robinson and the beaver had as yet, August 26, made no attempt to repair them. Among the many large birches and spruces killed in the ponds were four large pines, the largest measuring 7 feet, 9.5 inches in circumference, waist high. On the small stream entering Lake Eaton (locally known as "Clear Lake") from the southwest, and about ten minutes' tramp from the lake, at the junction of two tributaries, is a dam no feet long and 7 feet high at the stream's channel. The pond above covers about one and a half or two acres. The larger trees that have been killed are birches measuring 9 inches to a foot or more in diameter. A number of smaller dams occur on one of the tributaries, but some of them have recently been abandoned. "Fig. i8. Aspen 17.5 inches in diameter, cut by beaver; north shore of Lake Eaton. Fig. 20. Salmon Brook, Blue Mountain Lake region. Dead spruce timber in the long flow on this creek. Adirondack Beaver 137 On the west shore of Lake Eaton were found the largest beaver- cut aspens encountered ; the largest measured 17.5 inches in diameter at the lower end of the cut, the others 12.5 inches, 16 inches, 16.25 inches, respectively (figure 18). 6. Forked Lake Region. At the eastern end of this lake a stream from the north enters the North Bay. A swath of dead timber killed by beaver flows some years ago extends upstream for about half a mile. From there on, beaver operations in progress at the present time have caused some further damage. Approximately a mile from the mouth of the creek occurs the largest recent flow met with on this stream, where about four or five acres of spruce trees from 6 to 10 inches in diameter are standing in water and have begun to turn yellow. This is a locality of low ground which is easily flooded. I was informed by Ranger Robinson about a large beaver flow on the Whitney Preserve, along Sperry Brook below Handsome Pond. Mr. Robinson's plans for taking me to this locality were unfortunately thwarted by the occurrence of fires in his district which required his close attention. This flow west of Long Lake, is by far the largest in that general region, according to Mr. Robinson. 7. Blue Mountain Lake Region. The most extensive beaver flow in this ranger district occurs on the Salmon Lake stream. About half way between Salmon Lake and the road to the west of it there is a dam across this stream which is 75 feet long and 3 feet high (figure 19). A flow containing a belt of dead timber perhaps 12 rods wide extends upstream for a distance of approxi- mately one mile. Near the road is another large dam which has been abandoned. The dead timber in the long flow consists of rather small or medium-sized spruce and balsam fir mixed with birch (figure 20). On the neighboring Mud Pond inlet stream, where it parallels the highway, may be seen a beaver flow with dead timber for a stretch of about a quarter of a mile. 8. Indian Lake Region. In this region none of the beaver flows which I had opportunity to examine had been so destructive to timber as the major ones mentioned for other regions. As an example from this territory may be mentioned the private land of Lot 41, in Township 17. On a small creek on this property (McCabes Creek) were located three small dams which had been torn open. As the result of a flow that had previously been caused Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin by these dams there is a belt of dead spruce estimated to be from lo to 12 rods in width and about a half mile in length. The trees standing at present are rather small, 4 to 6 inches in diameter, the larger ones having been cut of¥ by the owners. Figure 21 gives a view along this creek. Beaver Flows Compared with other Sources of Dead Timber. The foregoing examples may be sufficient to show the effect of beaver flows upon timber. However, one need not spend much time in the Adirondacks to realize that the beaver constitutes only one of a number of agencies that have been operative in the destruction of timber, and that it is not the most important factor. The total of windfall and the timber destroyed by fire undoubtedly far exceeds the damage that has been caused or is likely to be caused in years to come by the beaver. Then there is the timber drowned as the result of dams constructed by man, as for example the Beaver River Flow. Waste in lumbering operations has previously been alluded to. In the Long Lake region in one or two places I walked on corduroy tote roads constructed for hundreds of yards from sound forest trees of various kinds cut for this purpose and then left to rot. If this timber were measured I believe that it would be found to equal or exceed in amount that killed in some of the largest beaver flows that came under my observation. Indeed the Forest Rangers with whom I talked frankly admitted that the actual loss of timber from beaver operations was compara- tively not a serious matter. The destruction by beaver of course occurs only along those watercourses where conditions are suitable for or permit of their damming operations, and to that extent it is limited. The dead timber in beaver flows impresses the observer rather forcil)ly because it is highly localized, usually standing, and therefore conspicuous. Relation to Forest Fires. In the opinion of one Forest Ranger in whose district there occurred relatively large beaver flows the most serious aspect of the situation was that the dead timber in these flows constituted a potential fire menace ; that as the beaver dams in time would be abandoned and would gradually disintegrate, the receding water would leave exposed masses of dry timber, standing and fallen, in which from lightning or other causes destruc- tive forest fires might originate. This point may be well taken, but it obviously follows that to destroy the dams or kill off the beaver Fig. 21. McCabes Creek, Indian Lake region; spruce killed in beaver flow. Fig. 23. View 011 P'iiie Brook, between Forked Lake and Lons; Lake, taken just above a beaver dam wliich had been torn out. Formerly a good trout stream. Fig. 24. Beaver ponds on small tributary of Boulder Brook ; stream normall about two feet wide. No timber to damage here. Adirondack Beaver 141 in such places would be to artificially and speedily bring about just such a hazardous situation. In a state of nature where beaver are present in some numbers it would seem that dams thus abandoned by one group of animals would soon be re-occupied by another group and the period of fire risk would be relatively short, if food was available. While it is doubtless true that the dead timber in beaver flows may at certain times and under certain conditions become a fire menace, it is none the less true, as another Ranger pointed out, that beaver flows themselves constitute effective fire-breaks. Elsewhere the fire protective value of beaver ponds has been pointed out in Canada ("He Would Conscript Beaver as Fire Rangers" Canadian Forestry Journal, \"ol. 14, p. 1656, 1918.) and in Wisconsin by Forester F. B. Moody ('16). Streams a few inches or a few feet wide are frequently transformed by the beaver into series of pond.s or flows rods in width and hundreds of yards in length, and whether they be in heavily forested parts or in more open, cut-over or for- merly burned areas (figure 25) the barrier afforded by such flows may on occasion prove of considerable importance in a fire protec- tion system. Were a sweeping fire to arise in the Adirondack woods it is quite certainly true that every beaver flow, large or small, that might be found in the path of the fire would be taken advantage of by the fire fighters as lines of defense. Every effort would be made to drive the fire into these flows. In this connection the practical value of accurately mapping all the beaver flows is apparent. Mr. W. G. Howard, Assistant Superintendent of the State Forest, New York Conservation Commission, sends the following comment : " In reference to the advantage or disadvantage of beaver flows in con- nection with fire protection, I will say that my feeling is that these flows are more of a disadvantage than they are an advantage. They make it impossible to maintain good passable trails, and therefore render communication difficult. It is my feeling that this disad- vantage far outweighs any advantage which might accrue from having a wider strip of water than would be obtained from the natural stream." Effect on Logging Operations. In addition to loss of values in timber, lumber or pulp, logging operations also may be adversely affected more or less permanently. Streams used for driving logs, or the tributaries of such streams, it is charged, may have their waters diverted or held up by beaver dams so that there is insuffi- 142 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin cient depth to carry the logs. Sluices may be continually choked up by the beaver, necessitating constant vigilance on the part of someone to keep them open. Where many beaver ponds exist, exposing a large surface area, the evaporation and retarded flow may be sufficiently great in dry periods to reduce materially the amount of water necessary to run logs. According to Mr. H. D. Cornwall of (jlenfield this loss may be as high as lo to 15 per cent. In this connection it would seem that the beaver is not altogether an unmixed evil. There are small streams favorably situared m logging areas which normally would serve no useful purpose to a logging concern. As a result of beaver dams such a stream might, at least in a part of its course, be converted into an avenue of transportation, not necessarily for logs, though that also might be possible, but for supplies, and thus be not without a degree of usefulness. I met with an instance in the Adirondacks where a beaver flow offered easy transportation of supplies to a fishing club for a distance of probably half a mile or more where without this means considerable time and labor and perhaps expense would undoubtedly have been entailed. In other regions than the Adiron- dacks, I have many times been personally grateful for the presence of beaver flows that afforded me easy passage by canoe or boat to localities otherwise inaccessible. Salvaging of Drowned Timber. Any person tramping about in the Adirondacks cannot, I am sure, avoid a feeling of regret that all the dead wood in the beaver flows, and elsewhere for that mat- ter, cannot be taken off and made use of in some way. It is true that most of it is soft wood and not of a desirable kind even for fuel, but there is much sound wood of harder varieties that might be utilized not merely for fuel but possibly for lumber for certain purposes, if fakoi in time. While accessibility and transportation difficulties are no doubt deterrent factors it would seem that the inhaljitants of the region in many places should be able to clear off a part of this dead wood. From what I learned in conversation with a number of thrifty residents I believe that many of them would be glad to avail themselves of the opportunity if it were per- missible for this to be granted by the State. I)i uiaiiy of the locali- ties that I visited about all the timber that can be reached by beaver flows has already been killed. While the dams in these places will continue in repair so long as the animals remain, there is little likeli- hood that they will continue to grow greatly in height and indefinitely Fig. 26. Part of meadow formed on site of old beaver pond; Grampus Lake stream, Long Lake region. Fig. 27. Big Chief Pond, P.ig Moose Lake region. Part of south shore; beaver- damaged timljcr removed. An example of injury on a private estate. Fig. 28. Beaver dam on Big Brook, Long Lake region; 172 feet long, 3 feet, 9 inches high; no timber to damage here. Beaver flows are fre- quently helpful to man for transportation purposes. Adirondack Beaver 145 extend the belt of dead timber. The shore line in these places shows that the present high water level of the ponds has been constant prob- ably for years. If therefore the dead wood were to be cut off — and this could be best done in winter — the appearance of the ponds would be improved, and the possible frre hazard removed. For out- lying localities this might not prove feasible, but for ponds and along streams which it may be particularly desirable to restore to an attractive condition for the benefit of summer visitors, I see no great difificulty. Suminary of Localities Visited. The following is a list of the ponds and streams whose shores I have personally examined and which contain more or less timber damaged by beaver flows. Constable Creek. Constable Pond Chub Pond. Big Chief Pond. Andes Creek. North Branch, Big Moose Inlet stream. Upper Gull Lake. Twitchell Creek. Lily-pad Pond. Little Birch Pond. Jack Pond. Loon Lake. North Branch, Beaver River Flow. Witchopple Lake and inlet creek arising in Beaver Dam Pond. Razorback Pond outlet stream. South Branch, Beaver River Flow. North inlet stream of Lake Lila. Peaked Mountain Pond. Stream in Township 21, Lot 95, near Long Lake Post Office, and streams in Lots 107, 108. Pine Brook (Forked Lake region). Round Pond, and also creek entering from southwest and small northern inlet. Pine Brook (Cold River region), lower courses. "Old Landing Creek" (Long Lake region). Southwest inlet of Lake Eaton. North Bay Brook (Forked Lake region). McCanns Brook (Blue Mountain Lake region). 146 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin Salmon Brook. Creek on McCabe's and Cross's land (Indian Lake region). Stream in Township 15, Lot 43 (Indian Lake region). Streams and ponds about which damage to timber is lacking or is negligible in quantity : Queer Lake. Lower Two Sisters Lake. Russian Pond. Pigeon Creek. Lower Gull Lake outlet stream. Twitchell Creek, east of highway. Outlet stream of South Pond. Northeast inlet of Oswego Pond. Salmon Lake (Witchopple Lake district). Greater part of Witchopple Lake shore line. Upper sources of South Branch (Beaver River region). L'pper sources of Shingle Shanty Brook. Mud Pond outlet stream. Hitchcock Lake. Long Pond (Sabattis region) and outlet stream. Thayers Brook (Long Lake region). Grampus Brook. Big Brook (Long Lake region), greater part of brook between Grampus Lake stream and Rock Pond. Calkins Brook, lower part. Small pond bordering Calkins Brook. Cold River, lower part. Latham Pond and outlet stream. Boulder Brook and small tributary to west of it. Pine Brook, for most of its length (exceptions in its lower course, Lots 55, 56). Mud Pond (Walker Preserve), and outlet stream. Sargents Ponds, the western and the middle one. Cedar River, main stream. Spragues Pond outlet stream (Indian Lake region). Salmon Lake (Blue Mountain Lake region). Relation to Waters, Fish and Fishing Some persons consider that the most important relation of the beaver in the Adirondacks is to the waters and fish of the ponds Fig. 29. Beavurs' "tote road," cut tlirough river bank; near Cold River. Fig. 30. White birch with double cut having spiral turn. Tree on edge of little knoll; 3 feet. 7 inches in circumference above upper cut. Big Brook, Long Lake district. Fi^. 31. Hemlock one foot in diameter, partly severed by beaver; Loon Lake, Beaver River district. Fig. 32. Small dam containing many stones ; outlet of Trout Pond. Beaver River district. Adirondack Beaver 149 and streams. About this whole subject however, little can be said that rests upon a basis of established fact, and until it has been carefully investigated all that can be said about it must be accepted merely as expression of opinion, based upon evidence that is largely circumstantial. Two opposing views were encountered : one main- taining that the presence of beaver is distinctly harmful to trout; the other that it is beneficial. The conflicting opinions represent, I am sure, honest convictions gained by different experiences ; and it is highly probable that there is some truth in both views ; that in some situations the results may be harmful and in others bene- ficial and under other conditions the effect may be neutral. Arguments Against the Beaver in Relation to Trout. The harmful effects of the beaver upon Adirondack trout has been dis- cussed by former Commissioner George D. Pratt ('21, pp. 117-118). This adverse opinion was probably that of John W. Titcomb, the Fish Culturist of the Conservation Commission at that time. See also The Conservationist, Vol. 4, p. 173. These effects are sup- posed to arise in three ways : ( i ) by dams acting as barriers to the movements of trout; (2) by excessive warming up of the water in the beaver ponds; (3) by the changing character of the water itself in the beaver ponds, — possibly rendered toxic to a sensitive fish like the trout. 1. Beaver Darns as Barriers. Where beaver dams in consider- able numbers occur on a trout stream it is believed that the fish will be unable to surmount these barriers when in the fall of the year they seek their spawning grounds upstream. This is supposed to be true, especially in the case of the higher dams, but just how high a dam it takes to prevent trout from passing to the pond above is not known. If dams do deter trout from ascending, then, no doubt, a great many are penned in between dams all along the- stream. A beaver dam with its projecting sticks and boughs obviously presents a different and more difficult obstacle from that of a low natural fall or rapids. 2. Effect of Flo-cvs on Temperature of Water. When the trees and bushes in a beaver pond die, the summer sun is given unobstructed play upon an expanse of shallow water. In these ponds changes of water are slow because of the arrested current. The heating pro- cess is aided by the evaporation which tends to keep the water at a low level. The cool water of springs feeding into the ponds is neutralized, the springs being "killed," according to a local expres- sion. Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 3. Influence of Floics on Character of Ji'atcr. The water in most streams below beaver f>onds as well as in the ponds themselves is more or less amber-or coffee-colored. This is thought to be due to dissolved substances from trees, especially hemlock, from peat or from decaying vegetable matter of various kinds. This kind of water is believed to be injurious to trout, whether it is warm or cold. The belief rests upon the experience that before the l)eaver came the water in these streams was clear, the trout were plentiful and fishing excellent. \\'ith the appearance of the beaver the water changed, the trout gradually diminished in numbers and within a few years the streams were abandoned as fishing grounds. A number of streams which I A-isited were pointed out to me as having formerly been the best trout streams in their localities. As an example may be mentioned the creek, with its two branches, empt\ing into the inlet marsh of Big Moose Lake (map i). I was informed by Mr. H. H. Covey, proprietor of Camp Crag, and by others, that these creeks before the introduction of the beaver were among the best trout spawning grounds of that region. Their waters were perfectly clear and considerably deeper than they have been since that time : there was excellent trout fishing. Xow no trout are found in them and they have long since been abandoned by fishermen. I found the creek (figure 22) from its mouth up to the junction of its two branches averaging perhaps 25 to 30 feet in width. Its depth 2 feet. 6 inches at the mouth. 3 to 4 feet in the channel farther upstream, and 6 feet at the junction of its two branches. The bottom felt firm under the oar. consisting of mud well mixed with sand. On each branch, a few rods from the junc- tion, is a beaver dam. The one on the south branch is about 18 inches high between water levels and perhaps 30 to 35 feet long. The water just above the dam was 2 feet. .7 inches deep : bottom firm and sandy under the oar. The greatest depth encountered was 6 feet. 3 inches, at a point about 50 yards above the dam. A short distance farther upstream the creek l>ecomes narrow and fallen trees prevent further progress by boat. The water at this point was 2 feet. 6 inches deep and the bottom ^\'as covered with an inch or two of soft mud, but below this it felt as firm and sandy as it did below the dam. The dam on the north branch, about the same distance from the junction, is 25 feet long and 2 feet high between water levels. Fig. 34. Part of one of the wings of the high dam shown in figure 33. Fig. 35. Huge beaver lodge on Cold River; longest diameter 35 feet; shortest, 28 feet; height 7 feet. Fig. 36. Inhabited lodge. Sargents Pond (easternmost). Adirondack Beaver 153 This dam had been dynamited twice by Mr. Covey during the week preceding my visit. The beaver repaired it quickly each time and except for the wreckage of the okl dam below there was little evidence that the structure had been damaged. Immediately above this dam the water was 4 feet, 9 inches deep. The bottom was of the same character as elsewhere. The pond above the dam is about 50 feet across, its west shore is swampy, and it contains grassy hummocks and clusters of dead trees. Beyond the dam upstream for a distance of about 150 yards the creek has an esti- mated average width of about 25 feet. Midway in this distance the depth measured 4 feet, 1 1 inches, and at the upper end the depth was 3 feet, 3.5 inches ; bottom as before. Beyond this point, which marks the limit of progress by boat, the creek is so shallow that the bottom can be seen in the brownish water. Other dams and similar conditions occur at intervals along its course. The water of both the north and south branches is coffee-colored so that where the depth is greater than about 20 to 24 inches the l^ottom cannot be seen. In a cup of water however, the tinge ai)pears very slight. Other waters which were particularly pointed out to me as having been excellent trout streams before the arrival of the beaver are Constable Creek, the beaver works on which have previously been described ; Pine Brook, a tributary of Raquette River between Forked Lake and Long Lake; Oswego Pond (figure 12) in the Twitchell Lake district; and Loon Lake, in the Beaver River region. Pine Brook, according to Ranger Robinson, has in the past been one of the best streams for trout both as to size and numbers. For a time after the beaver came it continued to offer good fishing; then trout became less and less plentiful until now no one goes fishing there (figure 23). Opinions Favorable to the Beaver. Champions of the view that beaver are beneficial rather than harmful to trout are not wanting. On the trail to Queer Lake, Big Moose Lake region, I met a party of fishermen consisting of Mr. Frank Davis and his son, of Mohawk, N. Y., and their guide, Mr. Hobart Casler. Mr. Davis was emphatically of the opinion that the beaver are not responsible for the scarcity- of trout and the poor fishing complained of by many people. He mentioned in support of his statement, Queer Lake itself, in which there were plenty of trout although small, that is less than 6 or 7 inches in length. That they 154 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin were plentiful was in itself evidence that trout were thriving and propagating there. Other waters he named were Crooked Lake and Stony Lake. On a stream connected with the former he said there were 15 beaver dams, but that last spring there was as good if not better fishing in this stream than ever before. Mr. Davis declared that he had been coming into the Adirondacks for years to fish and was thoroughly familiar with the conditions. Each succeeding year he had been obliged to seek more and more remote places in order to find good fishing. The cause of this, he firmly believed, was not chargeable to the beaver but to a class of people who make a practice of taking under-sized fish. The extension of roads throughout the Adirondacks had made a steadily increas- ing area easily accessible to numbers of unscrupulous persons who have little regard either for the spirit or the letter of the law. The gradual depletion of trout in the ponds and .streams is the result. Meanwhile the true sportsman becomes discouraged and provoked, and occasionally perhaps may be unaware of the true situation and places the blame in the wrong place. Mr. Casler, although having no patience with the beaver, which he believed ought to be exterminated, agreed with Mr. Davis that there is a prevalent pratice with some classes of people of taking quantities of under-sized trout. Another champion of the beaver was found in Mr. H. H. Fish of Indian Lake. Mr. Fish informed me that he had been a guide for many years and had been a consistent defender of the beaver in its relation to trout. He mentioned as examples where fishing was never better than it was after beaver came, Buell Brook and Cedar River Flow. Beaver dams, according to Mr. Fish, permit the formation where springs come in, of deep, cool pools, highly favorable to trout. ]\Iore food is found in the Ijeaver ponds and the trout as a consequence grow larger. Mr. Fish admitted, how- ever, that under certain conditions or in certain localities beaver dams might have harmful effects, such as preventing movements of the trout upstream in spawning time, hindering circulation of the water or allowing of its being warmed to an unfavorable degree in mid-summer. For further testimony favorable to the beaver I am indebted to Dr. Howard Lilienthal of New York City. In a letter of Sep- tember 30 last he informs me of a conversation he had with "one of the best guides in the Big Aloose Lake region" who stated '"that Adirondack Beaver 155 the only difference made by the beavers so far as trout fishing went, was that the flooding of the land gave the trout so much food and bottom interest that they did not rise to the fly. He did not believe that it made any actual difference in the number of trout nor in their spawning." Abundance of food must be looked upon as a thing favorable to trout though not necessarily to trout fishing. That trout in beaver ponds often do not rise to the fly or take bait seems to be borne out by an experience of my own in Colorado a few years ago. Numerous attempts to catch trout in pools between beaver dams resulted in most discouraging failure, but that trout were there in numbers I had abundant ocular proof. In Minnesota, Mr. Carlos Avery, State Commissioner of Game and Fisheries, made a preliminary inquiry into the relation of beaver to trout and concluded that the relation was a favorable one. Mr. Eben W. Cobb, Superintendent of Fisheries there, states that : "Wherever I have heard the matter spoken of by trout fishermen it has been stated that the trout grow larger and the fishing is better in the ponds caused by these dams and that they offered a safe retreat for trout during a period of the year when anchor ice was running, and also during the hot months of summer as the trout are safer in the deeper waters during this period." {Cf., "Beaver make for better trout fishing," Fins, Feathers and Fur, No. 22, p. 10, 1920, and Lawrie '21). Balancing of Opinion. On the basis of my own observations, I am inclined to believe that there may be a good deal of truth in both of the conflicting views set forth above. The differences prob- ably are to be sought in the differing local conditions. A shallow, relatively broad stream with low banks and feeble current, if dammed by beaver, results in a series of expansive but shallow ponds. If contributing springs are few, small and far between, dams frequent and the soil composed of humus, unfavorable con- ditions of one kind or another quite probably develop on such a stream. In the original condition with freely flowing water and cool shade, trout may have thrived, but in the altered circumstances one would hardly expect them to do so. On the other hand, a stream of like size with good current, higher banks, and with springs more frequent, might by the same number of dams be converted into a stream in every way more favorable to trout than it was before. There would be an increase in the depth of the water without an undue spread at the sides ; the entering springs would 156 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin furnish cool pools and perhaps an entire lower stratum of cool water ; and with the increased volume of water would come an increased food supply. Mr. H. D. Cornwall, in a letter of September 7 last, informs me of a conversation he had had with a woodsman who told him of " having seen trout and bullheads dead and others in a very much weakened condition swimming on the surface of water in ponds caused by beaver dams on small streams where in low water the condition is such that there is not sufficient new water coming into the pond to freshen it." A similar experience was related to me by Ranger David Conkey in connection with beaver ponds which had gone down as a result of disrepair of the dams. While I personally saw a number of ponds that had been lowered to such an extent that a large part of the bottom was exposed, I did not happen to see any evidence of dead or dying fish, although it is possible that sufficient search might have revealed them. A decided stench was noticed in one or two such places but so far as I could determine it seemed to arise from decaying vegetable matter. There would seem to me to be little doubt that conditions in some beaver ponds may readily become fatal to certain fishes, the trout probably being more sensitive than other species in the Adi- rondack streams. In periods of drought during the summer months, with partial or complete drying up of the springs, it is possible that in the beaver-dammed streams there may be an excessive accumu- lation especially of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, these gases arising in the silt and humus on the bottom of the ponds ; for according to .Shelford ('13. p. 60), "Nitrogen and carbon dioxide are produced especially near the bottom and if the water did not circulate they would be too abundant in some places and deficient in others for animals to live." Again fpp. 59-60), "Several workers have shown that carbon dioxide is very toxic to fishes. . . . Fishes for example turn away when they encounter as small an increase as 5 c.c. per liter of carbon dioxide. Since a large amount of dissolved carbon dioxide is commonly accompanied by a low oxygen content as well as other important factors, the carbon dioxide content of water (strongly alkaline waters excepted) is probably the best single index of the suitability of the water for fishes." Further (p. 133), "Analyses of the bottom water from ponds with humus- covered bottoms showed that it contained no oxygen. The open Adirondack Beaver 157 water of the lakes with the incomplete circulation in summer is without sufficient oxygen to support life, below the level of circula- tion." M. C. Marsh ('10, p. 896) makes this statement: "The water soluble substances in bark and in the wood of some trees are capable of killing fishes, but while such products are undesirable in streams the amounts of bark and wood necessary to affect fish in flowing streams are so large that it is not likely that they do much direct damage to fishes by the substances which dissolve from them." An inference that may be drawn from this last quotation is that in waters with arrested circulation, as for example beaver ponds under certain conditions, the water solul^le substances in question may accumulate to a degree sufficient to be fatal to trout and other species of fish. In the light of what has been said above it is evident that a scientific investigation of a number of representative beaver- inhabited Adirondack streams in their relation to trout would not only be of important scientific interest but would have much practical fish cultural value also. The conditions obtaining in the streams before as well as after the entrance of beavers should, of course, be ascertained and their history followed over a period of years. Advantages of Beaver Dams and Ponds. Despite the possi- bilities for harm enumerated above, beaver dams in the Adirondacks cannot be viewed solely in an unfavorable light. There as in other regions, beaver ponds unquestionably serve in many places, as pre- viously noted, as reservoirs of water which keep creeks running during dry seasons, and in other localities may have important value as fire barriers (figures 24 and 25). In periods of hea\'y rains or at the break-up of the streams in spring they may become very useful in retarding or absorbing agencies to a degree suffi- cient to prevent minor floods. Furthermore, the formation of bottom land and meadows through the activities of the beaver is a matter of some economic value. It is well known that thousands of acres of agricultural land in the United States have been formed as the direct result of beaver dams. In some localities at the present time the principal grazing lands available are the grassy meadows that originated in beaver ponds. Figure 26 illustrates such a meadow found along the Grampus Lake stream in the Long Lake region. The photograph was taken from an old grass-grown dam which at one time had held back a large pond of water. The mud and silt that had been carried down by the stream and settled in 158 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin the pond furnished soil in which a heavy crop of grass was destined to spring up after the dam should eventually be abandoned. This actually happened, and when I was there the usefulness of the old beaver dam to present human inhabitants was evidenced by the fact that the meadow had recently been cut for hay. The beaver ponds act as settling basins for the inwashed soil which, when carried downstream, silts up the channels and destroys the breeding grounds of fishes, as well as fills the channels so that they easily overflow their banks during heavy rains. The importance of these influences has not been and is not now adequately recog- nized. Relation of Beaver Work to Deer in Winter and to Water Birds It was believed by Ranger Conkey that beaver ponds, at times in winter, caused some distress among deer because of the raised water level which permits the freezing over of spring entrances where deer are accustomed to drink. In their eagerness for water the deer as a consequence may attempt to get it in places difficult to reach. He mentioned three instances where he had found deer that had gotten into water holes to drink and from which they were unable to get out. Ranger Isaac Robinson, on the contrary, does not believe that this question of water is a serious one. He told of seeing many places where deer had regularly passed by open water without turning aside to drink, their trails in the snow show- ing this plainly. As the deer eat snow freely, he held that they were not at all dependent upon open water. Another point brought out by Mr. Robinson was the claim of some old guides that beaver ponds destroy a great deal of the winter food of the deer. He had not himself seen any clear proof of this. The food alleged to be destroyed particularly is the young growth of balsam fir ; but also other vegetation or shrubbery found in the swamps where many deer spend the winter. The idea is that deer often form the habit of retreating to the same swamps where they have previously wintered and if such a localit}- should in the meantime have been flooded they would find their feeding grounds restricted. This theory assumes that the animals either out of sheer stupidity or attachment for a local area remain there and suffer from lack of food instead of seeking better foraging grounds else- where. Mr. H. H. Fish, guide at Indian Lake, holds a quite contrary Adirondack Beaver 159 view. He asserts that deer do not keep so closely to the swamps in winter as many people seem to think, but frequently go feeding in numbers on the very tops of the hills. He had himself witnessed this many times. Instead of being detrimental to deer beaver flows were, in his estimation, distinctly an advantage, in that they not only afforded refuges from persons who practice night hunting, but also because they made travel so difficult under other methods of hunting that the deer were given a better chance to escape. Mr. H. H. Covey pointed out as one of the objections to the beaver, that the little grassy meadows or margins so frequently occurring along the shores of streams or ponds and forming favorite feeding places of deer during the summer months, are often sub- merged by the beaver flows. The deer are thus driven away from the watercourses to more inaccessible places. The harm in this is that summer guests are deprived of one of their chief delights, that of seeing deer. He mentioned particular localities where prior to the coming of the beaver visitors might daily enjoy the sight of deer but where now the animals are rarely or never seen. Relation to Certain Water Birds. A point that may be worthy of mention is the common occurrence of the Black Duck (Anas rubripes) that was noted about the beaver ponds in the Adirondacks. On many occasions I saw what in all probability were locally hatched broods of this species. They were observed most frequently in the older beaver ponds and in flows along streams with exposed muddy shores and plenty of cover in the form of dense stands of alders, windfall timber or other dead wood. Other water birds observed in or about beaver flows were : Great Blue Heron, common ; Hooded A'lerganser, occasional, — the Ameri- can Merganser also being seen a number of times on natural ponds and once on Cold River ; American Golden-eye, occasional ; Solitary Sandpiper, fairly common. Relation to Private Holdings within the Adirondack Preserve From the owners of summer cottages or of camps (inns) on lake fronts came the chief complaints heard in the course of the investi- gation. Owners of large private preserves, where many beaver are probably found, were not personally met with and their attitude toward the beaver was consequently not learned ; but from what was observed their problem is mainly that of preventing areas of timber land from being flooded. This requires constant vigilance on the i6o Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin part of the keepers. Of the former group most of the complaints were heard in the Big Moose Lake district. I learned of five lake front properties here which had been molested more or less by the beaver. On one property, situated on a point in what is known as North Bay, I counted 9 aspens immediately about a cottage, which had been felled by beaver probal)ly within the last year. The trees ranged from 4 to 10 inches in diameter. One had been felled so as to lodge against the cottage roof. Altogether I counted 32 birches and aspens, chiefly the latter, felled on this propert}- ; but a number of scattered cuttings were probably overlooked, for the owner informed me that 42 beaver-felled trees had been counted last spring. I saw at this place also a white pine 2 inches in diameter that had been cut rather recently, and 4 smaller ones that were a part of a newly planted group. A number of shade trees had been protected by means of wire netting. In a neighboring yard an aspen had been slightly gashed by beaver two nights previous to my visit. Most damage of this kind is done during the period of the year when the people are not at their summer cottages. The resentment of the owners is but natural. They take pride in making their grounds attractive and trees are a fundamental part of such a scheme. A beautiful tree that has required many years to grow may be cut down overnight ; it cannot soon be replaced. Furthermore, in some instances trees may have a sentimental value as in a case met with where one had been planted by a member of the family since deceased. Of course much can be done to prevent such depredations of the beaver, by surrounding the more valuable trees with wire netting ; but where larger patches of forest are concerned this is not practic- al)le, though a common enclosure might be sufficient in many cases. The most extensive cuttings on private grounds in the Big Moose Lake district were on the propert>^ of Dr. Albert \'an der Veer. A pond on this property, known as Big Chief Pond, is shown in figure 27. It is about a hundred yards in diameter and was formerly a very pretty body of water. In addition to trees killed by flooding, due to a beaver dam across the outlet which more recently has been kept open, the doctor estimated that approximately 200 trees had been cut down by beaver about this pond in the last ten or twelve years. A number of stumps of beaver-felled birches which I measured there ranged from 6 to 15 inches in diameter. Wherever beaver depredations affect smaller property- owners Adirondack Beaver i6i they are as a rule more keenly felt than they are in the case of owners of large estates. Certain camp owners whose patronage con- sists of summer visitors are concerned about the relation of the beaver to the ponds and streams of their vicinity. Their contention is that with the decline of fishing and with the marring of the beauty of ponds and streams these places no longer offer attractions to their guests and a loss of patronage is the result. Nevertheless it was admitted that the beaver and his works are in themselves objects of interest which many summer visitors are willing to go out of their way to see. Attitude of Local Inhabitants toward the Beaver Of five local Forest Rangers with whom I discussed the question one expressed himself as in favor of extermination of the beaver, except in a few places where they could do no harm (figure 28) and where they might be allowed to exist for the benefit of tourists and others interested in the animals and their works. The remaining four were in favor of measures of control, providing for reduction of the beaver population where damages caused by them required it, and adequate protection in parts where no serious harm could result. They regarded the fur value of the beaver as a matter of importance to the local inhabitants. One inn-keeper, in a locality where beaver were charged with damage both to timber and to fishing, was emphatically against protection of any sort. Another one believed the beaver to be beneficial to trout and fishing and was opposed to anything like extermination, but was in favor of reduction and con- trol where damages to timber or other interests demanded it. Dr. Van der Veer, whose private grounds had suffered much damage, took a very calm and broad view of the beaver problem. He believed that extermination would be a mistake; that the animals and their works are of interest to visitors in the Adirondack's and that their commercial value as fur bearers is a matter worthy of consideration. In his opinion, likewise, the object to be sought is proper control. Dr. D. E. Hartnett, of the Rapshaw Fishing Club at Witchopple Lake, stated that the sentiment of his club was against the beaver because they made lakes and ponds unsightly, damaged timber and interfered with trout streams. Most of my time was spent in the field and consequently few of the local inhabitants were met with. According to the Forest Rangers however, the sentiment of the people of their respective Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin districts upon the beaver question is divided. Owners of land who are annoyed by the beaver desire an open season and a number are in favor of complete extermination. In localities where little damage has been done the attitude is more or less indifferent, but there is a £jeneral feeling that the local inhabitants should be allowed to take beaver for fur where the animals are sufficiently plentiful. One man stated his belief that if many who have complained about damages from beaver were to be permitted to take and sell them for fur from such places there would be little further complaint ; that these people were unwilling to have all the trouble and labor of trapping and skinning the beavers only to turn them over to the State to be sold, themselves receiving no compensation. General Public Interest in the Beaver As a wild animal the beaver is one of the most interesting on the continent. It offers valuable material to the student of animals in nature, on their behavior, on their relations to the woodland environ- ment and other problems of biological interest and importance. Because of the accessibility of many beaver colonies from con- veniently located bases in the Adirondacks. opportunities are open to students interested in such problems without many of the physical inconveniences and hardships often attendant upon these under- takings. The increasing numbers of summer visitors in the Adirondacks who camp, travel by automobile, canoe, or by the trails, will find their interest and pleasure in the region greatly increased by the presence of the beaver, particularly if they have a general knowledge of the animals so that they can interpret what they see in the woods. \\'hen these animals are given proper protection they become rela- tively tame so that direct observations of their habits are easily made. Sources and Numbers of Adirondack Beavers Geographic Races. According to Willoughby ( '20. p. 68) . a number of the beavers purchased by the State and liberated in the Adirondacks. presumably between 1904 and 1906. " had been part of a Canadian exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, jNIo." ( Cf . also Radford '07, p. 408.) These were undoubt- edly of the t}-pical Canadian race. Castor canadensis canadoisis. But others secured at about the same time came from Wyoming. Dr. Charles C. Adams, Director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Adirondack Beaver Experiment Station, has kindly sent me the following memorandum in regard to the \V)oming heavers, which he received from Dr. George Bird Grinnell of New York City : " Yellowstone National Park records say: ' Eighteen heaver caught at Yanceys August 14 to Septemher 11, 1907, hy T. Elwood (Billy) Hofer and shipped hy express to J. S. Whipple, Old Forge, N. Y., for New York State, and four died enroute.' This is taken from Mr. Chester Lindsley's record of animals shipped from the Park. Billy Hofer caught and shipped many other animals." The most complete account of the re-establishment and history of the heaver in the Adirondacks is that by Radford ('07). According to E. T. Seton ('09, \'ol. i, pp. 448-449) the Wyoming beaver represents a geographic race ( Castor canadensis frondator) , which differs from the Canadian form in being " larger and paler than the type, with scaly part of tail shorter than twice the width." Should permission to take beaver be granted it would be of interest if trappers would save the skulls of the animals and send them to the Roosevelt Wild Life Station in order that material might be availalile for possible evidence of crossing of the two races. Estimates of Numbers. I have before stated that estimates of numbers of beavers in any considerable area cannot be made with any great degree of accuracy without much time and careful observa- tion. The results given below represent merely the closest estimates that can be made in the circumstances. They have at least the virtue of being based on certain observed and recorded facts and to that extent are removed from the realm of pure guesswork. The best available index to the beaver population is the nimiber of occupied lodges, and these are the basis for the figures that are to follow. I shall first refer to the region covered by my own investigations and consider the figures representing the lodges and the dams (in repair) recorded by myself, and having in this connection estab- lished the ratio of lodges to dams I shall su1)sequently use this ratio in making an estimate for Herkimer and Hamilton counties and for the Adirondack region generallv, based on the number of dams reported by the District Rangers in 1919 and 1920. The distribution of these dams had been plotted on maps in the office of the Superin- tendent of Forests at Alliany, and these maps were kindly loaned me by Assistant Superintendent W. G. Howard. Lodges had not been reported. My own maps accompanying this article (maps i and 2), were 164 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin traced from State land maps given me by Mr. Howard. Many little streams and ponds and other unessential details have been omitted for the sake of clearness. The scale as given on the State maps was two miles to the inch. Reference to these traced maps will show the distribution of the dams and lodges located by myself and also those reported and fairly definitely indicated on my maps by Forest J^angers. The latter will be omitted in the estimates. The total number of inhabited lodges found was 84, and of dams in repair, 168. Along a number of the streams explored where no hxlges are indicated some douljtiess escaped notice, but I believe that this number is not large. It is to be noted that the ratio of lodges to dams is i to 2. To arrive at an estimate of the numljer of Ijeaver here represented we may assume that to each inhabited lodge there were at the time two parent beavers and (on an average) 4 young of the season. \Ve may add to this an average of four yearlings which had not as yet built lodges for themselves and would spend the winter in the parental lodge. This makes a total of 10 beavers to each lodge, and the 84 lodges therefore represent a population of 840 animals. (Cf. Seton, '09, Vol. i, p. 452.) A certain number of beavers undoubt- edly live in bank burrows but judging from the nature of the banks in this territory I believe their number to be small, probably not as great as one-fifth of the number that live in lodges. Assuming, how- ever, that it is a fifth, the bank beavers would number 168. This number added to 840 gives us 1,008 as the number of beavers inhabit- ing the watercourses explored. If we assume further that the remaining watercourses of these districts which I was unable to visit contained an equal number of beavers, the figure becomes 2,016 ; or, if there were three times as many, which I believe to be improbable, then we have 3,024. We may now turn to the figures representing the Rangers' beaver dam reports previously mentioned and see what estimates may be derived from that source. These estimates so far as they concern Herkimer and Hamilton counties may be considered independently of those given above in connection with my own investigations, but it is well to bear in mind that the districts covered by me are included in the area in which, as will be seen later on, the majorit}- of the beaver dams reported by the Rangers are located. My purpose is to arrive at some estimate of the number of beaver in Herkimer and Hamilton counties and in the Adirondack region as a whole, on the Adirondack Beaver 165 basis of dams reported by the Rangers. It may be accepted that many unreported dams existed, and of course many new dams have l)een built since 1920, but the fact remains that the Rangers' reports constitute the most complete and definite information we have as to the distribution and the relative density of the beaver population in the Adirondack region generally. It seems important to mention some points revealed by these rei)orts. With the Forestry Department's maps before me I find that 5S7 dams for the entire region have been plotted for 1919. and new dams added for 1920 increase the total to 663. Of this number 481 dams are divided between Herkimer and Hamilton counties alone and more than half of these are confined to approxi- mately the northern third of their area. In other words, only a scat- tering 182 out of the total of 663 dams reported for the whole Adi- rondack region are located outside of the two counties named, and these counties together contain the great majority of the beaver jiopulation. These facts should be noted since it is usually very easy to gain the impression that because a species of animal is plentiful in one part of a region it is equally abundant in all other parts, although such may be far from the truth. And furthermore, such evidence as the Rangers' reports furnish should be given due con- sideration lest any temptation arise to apply sweepingly drastic measures of control that might properly be applicable only to a part of the region. Now as to estimates. Accepting the same ratio of lodges to dams as previously given, the same number of beavers to a lodge and the same fraction of bank beavers, it appears that the 481 dams in Herkimer and Hamilton counties represent 2,886 beavers. And proceeding in the same wa}- with the 182 remaining dams scattered throughout the Adirondacks, we shall have 1,092 beavers outside of Herkimer and Hamilton counties. If all the dams reported should constitute only one-half the number that actually exists we have simply to double the sum of the two figures just mentioned, giving an estimated total of 7,956, or in round numbers, 8.000 beavers for the Adirondack region as a whole. Willoughby r20a, p. 628) states that the Conservation Commis- sion estimates that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 beaver in the Adirondacks. With regard to natural increase Riley ('21, p. 205) states that: " Likewise, there is very little information about natural losses and rate of increase. Estimates of the numbers in i66 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin Long Branch Creek [Rocky Mts.] showed 50 beavers in 1908 anfl 3,000 in 19] (S, indicating an average yearly increase for the period of a1)out 50 per cent. This, however, is based only on estimates. ]n order to be conservative, an annual increase of 25 per cent has been assumed utUil such time as mcjre accurate information can be obtained." The determination of this n(jrmal rate of increase, so im])ortant in any rational ])lan j)roviding for perpetuating the stock and for harvesting annually a fair number of beaver skins, certainlv merits additional field study. Commercial Value and Possibilities Beaver as Human Food. I have made it a practice to eat the meat of the beavers that I have taken from time to time in Minne- .sota and in my f)pinion it is a very ])alatal)le food. It was prepared in the same manner as venison. A little care is necessary in skinning the animal so as to avoid tainting the meat with the castoreum. In the words of Seton, " The flesh is good and the tail is considered a delicacy. It tastes like ' calf's head ' with marrow dressing." The fat has a delicate and. to my palate, a slightly sweet taste. Castoreum. The castoreum is a substance produced by a pair of glands in the anal region. It has a peculiar odor which, to me at least, is neither strong nor unpleasant. It is used in the manufacture of perfume, and in medicine it is said to be used as a stimulant and as an antispasmodic. It has been known for over two thousand years and in olden times was con.sidered as more or less of a ])anacea. Its commercial value at the present time is probably from $6.00 to $10.00 a pound, an amount obtainable from about a dozen beavers, when it is in the form of the castoreum glands removed entire and dried. I have weighed two pair of the dried glands and this esti- mate is based on this fact. Professor Carl \'oegtlin. Professor of Pharmacology, U. S. Public Health Service, W ashington. D. C. writes under date of March 30, 1922: " Castoreum has been used years ago as a sedative and anti- f pasmodic for hy steria, hut its use for this ])urpose as for any other it may have had in medicine has been discontinued. There is really no justification for the sale of this drug." Revenue from Beaver. Beaver is one of our most highly prized furs. As popularly known in coats, collars, muffs and other articles of apparel it consists of only the dense underfur, the long, coarse overhair having been removed by plucking. The part played by Adirondack Beaver heaver fur in the early history of this country is a very interesting and imi)ortant one, to which the reader is referred elsewhere (Alartin, '92). The qualities of heaver fur are such that it will continue in the future, as in the past, to command a good price in the markets. It is a natural resource that has important ])ossihilities and is worthy of careful attention. The capacity to harvest a couple of thousand skins or more each year would mean a great deal to the peo])le of the region or to the State itself, and with a fair amount of considera- tion given to the distrihution of the heaver and to local conditions, the Adirondack region should lie ahle to support a sufficiently large l)eaver population to yield such returns without at the same time incurring" an undue amount of damage to timher, fishing or other interests. In Commissioner George D. Pratt's reports ( '20, pp. 48-51 ; '21, pp. 99-101) he summarizes the damage to timher done hy heaver dams in 19 19 at $90.00 per dam. The estimate for 1920 averaged $22.00 per dam. The total damage for these two years was ahout $55,000.00, and this is prol)al)ly near the maximum damage, as the region is ])resumal)ly fully stocked. If, as I have estimated, there are c)n the upper or dorsal surface of it. The heaver is an expert diver. When alarmed he goes under with a loud slap against the water with his l)road tail, followed hy a '■ kaplunk " of the disappearing hody. At other times he may stealthily sink heneath the surface without a sound. Seton mentions an instance where he ohserved a heaver that swam under the surface for ahout a quarter of a mile. A specimen which I once took in a trap, dove, and after it had heen under proh- ahly half a minute I took out my watch to time it. At the end of 5 minutes and lo seconds I hegan to fear that the heaver had escaped and, poking around with a stick to see if it was still there, after a few seconds located the heaver under the hank ; when I looked it, it came to the surface. It had heen under water altogether ahout six minutes and no douht would have remained under longer had I not disturbed it. Instinct and Intelligence. Popularly the heaver is sometimes credited with intelligence bordering closely upon the human kind. I do not know of any experiments made with the heaver to deter- mine whether its intelligence is above or below that of any other species of rodent, but its brain is smooth like that of other rodents, and it is probable that the beaver so far as mentality is concerned cannot boast of any great superiority over the rabbit, the squirrel or the rat. But in the course of the ages it has evolved a set of instincts, highly complex, at which we cannot but marvel just as we marvel at the instincts of the ant and of the bee. These instincts are inherited and at the right time in their life history, when the proper stimuli prompt them, the young beaver will do certain things, and do them in the same way and just as well as their parents, without first having to be shown or taught how. The works of the beaver usually appear to be so M^ell adapted to a purpose that we some- times are tempted to believe that the animal must have heen con- scious of the effect of each step in the process and that the whole had been carefully planned out beforehand. But we experience much the same feeling when we consider the ways of the ants and the bees. Sociability and Wandering. The heavers are highlv sociable animals and this characteri.stic finds expression not only in the works of the colony but also in their indulgence at times in play. 176 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin which, according to Morgan, takes place both on the shore where they bask about or in the water where a numljer of them may swim about, ducking each other. In the summer months many beavers roam about more or less, frequently to considerable distances from their home locality. \\'hether this is indulged in by all memliers in a colony or only l)y the males, unmated individuals and young of the preceding year, is not certain. It does not seem probable that females with young of the season would make any extended excursions away from the home lodge. At any rate, in Minnesota, Colorado and in the Adi- rondacks I have found lodges occupied by adults all through the summer, and in some cases there were young of the season also. Breeding Habits So far as known the beaver pairs for life. According to Seton ('09, \'ol. I, p. 471) the animals mate in February and the young are born in May, the period of gestation being accordingly about three months, or fourteen weeks according to Dugmore. While .Seton's statements refer evidently to the beaver of Manitoba, the mating season no doubt is about the same for the Adirondacks. Persons whom I questioned in the Adirondacks could give me no positive information on these jwints but seemed to believe that the }oung were born during May or early June. The young are born in the lodge or in a bank burrow and vary from two to six in number, or possibly there may be as many as seven or eight in some cases, the average being probably four. The young at birth are said to be fully furred, with their eyes open, and are able to leave the lodge with the mother when three weeks or a month old. At this age they are also said to l>egin eating solid food. They remain with the parents for a year or longer and are not sexually mature until two years old. In the autumn following their 1)irth, that is. when they are three to four months old. they will take part in building dams and lodges. Young beavers separated from their parents at an early age will build lodges and dams without first having " learned to do such things from their parents, the building habit being instinctive. The mother beaver is said by some naturalists to exhibit con- siderable concern for her voung when they are in danger and will come to their defense. It is not definitely known whether the male takes anv active part in the care of the yoimg. Evidence seems Adirondack B cave r ^77 to show that he either vokintarily leaves the lodge or is driven away l)y the female at aiiout the time the young are born and leads a more or less solitary life in the vicinity, or perhaps associates with young' of the previous year and with other males that may be in his neighborhood. The length of a beaver's life is not definitely known, except ])rol)ably for such as have been raised in captivity. Seton says ('09, \'ol. I, p. 472) that they live from 12 to 15 years. Enos Mills ('13, p. 193) mentions a beaver which he had glimpses of "through eighteen years, and he must have been not less than four years of age when I first met him." Enemies of the Beaver Aside from man the principal enemies of the beaver are con- sidered to be wolves and foxes, bears, the lynx and the wildcat, fishers and otters ; and among birds, the great horned owls and the goshawks. In the north where the wolverine occurs, this animal is also said to be an enemy. In the Adirondacks the most common natural enemies are probaljly foxes, great horned owls and gos- hawks, I)ut the toll taken hy these is of course probably limited wholly to young beavers pounced upon from time to time when they are ashore. I found one little beaver in the Adirondacks which appeared to have met its end in this way. The muskrat is by some j:)ersons considered an enemy of the beaver because of the mischief it occasionallv does l)v tunneling through the beaver dams. Food and Feeding Habits Food. In food habits the beaver is vegetarian. \\'here the aspen or po])lar occurs its bark is eaten to a greater extent than that of any other tree. The various kinds of bark fed upon have been mentioned in the fir.st ])art of this report. In the summer months the beaver undoubtedly feeds also upon a great variety of tender grasses and sedges, buds and young leaves, as well as roots or rhizomes of water lilies, flags and other plants grow'ing about water or in the water ; probably also ground-growing berries. About the middle of August the beaver begins to prepare for the winter I)y laying in a supply of freshly cut boughs which are stored usuall\- in the water by the lodge. When the jiond is frozen over the animals may then dive beneath the ice from their lodge. 178 Roosevelt Wild Life liullclin gnaw off a branch and return to the lodge to feed. Through the summer months the feeding grounds may l)e easily recognized by the little heaps of peeled sticks found in shallow water along the shore. In such j)laces, ])artly submerged and partly concealed by overhanging bushes, the animal sits quietly nibbling ofY the bark from the twigs as they are held in the forepaws. Cuttings. Trees are cut down jjrimarily to secure food ; second- arily the cuttings are used in the construction of lodges and dams, but many boughs are cut and added to the dam, especially, without first being stri])])ed of their bark. In the majority of cases, when there is no snow, a tree is cut at a height between twelve and eighteen or twenty inches from the ground. The gnawing may be made entirely from one side, or, as in the case with most of the larger trees, all around the trunk. The literature contains records of trees 3 feet in diameter that have been felled by l)eavers. The largest I happened upon in the Adirondacks was an asi)en 17.5 inches in diameter. Most cuttings are made within easy reach of the water but at times the animals must go farther afield for their food supply. In the Long Lake district a number of fresh cuttings were found which had been dragged al)i)Ut one hundred yards, as paced, to the water. In dragging the cuttings conspicuous trails are formed. Figure 29 shows where such a trail has been cut through the crest of a bank about a hundred feet above the water along Cold River. Smaller Iwughs are seized at the butt, the re.st of the branch trailing behind as the beaver moves forward : while in the case of heavier poles the animal probably is forced to move backward as he drags them. According to Seton, "'Small logs are rolled by one or more beavers pushing with their hands, their shoulders, their hi])s or their whole broadsides." The trees cut l)v the beaver fall in whichever direction they happen to lean or as the wind or mere chance directs. Most trees near the water lean that way. Numerous exam])les of poor judg- ment and wasted efi^orts in tree-felling may be found in the woods about nianv beaver ponds. Trees standing on the side of a hill may have a spiral twist to the cut. brought about as the beaver moves from a higher level to a lower, or vice versa, cutting around the trunk, l^ach of the two cuts in the birch shown in figure 30 has a definite spiral turn. Adirondack Beaver The time required by a Ijeaver to fell a tree of given size is not positively known, for only rarely has the operation been actually observed and recorded. Seton says, "Two beavers can cut down a three-inch sapling in three minutes and a six-inch tree in an hour or two. Three are the most that ha\ e been seen working on the same tree at once." Their work, however, is often erratic and subject to many interruptions ; many partly cut and abandoned trees may be found in most beaver-inhabited localities (figure 31). Photographs l)y Dugmore ('14) and Shiras ('21) show that the beaver stands erect upon its hind feet, supported by the tail, and rests its fore feet upon the trunk when gnawing off a tree. Trees up to about four inches in diameter are usually cut into sections of various lengths and dragged to the ponds ; in the case of larger trees only the branches are removed. The amount of food eaten by a beaver in a year is not known. We ought to know how much an average colony or lodge needs in order to know the potential productive capacity of a given area of forest for beaver. Aspens (Weigle and Frothingham, '11, pp. 16- 17) and paper birch (Dana, '09, pp. 19, 36) grow rapidly and yellow birch more slowly (McCarthy and Belyea, '20, pp. 19, 42, 49). It probably requires from 10 to 20 years for the aspens and paper birches to become three or four inches in diameter at the level where the beaver cuts them, and of a size to attract it. Beaver Architecture Character of Ponds and Streams Favored. It is a familiar fact that beavers usually choose for their dam building operations small, shallow streams with sluggish current. Running water seems to be the stimulus that sets the dam-building instincts in motion. During dry periods when the water in creeks forms only a series of interrupted pools of still water, damming operations usually cease. A pond that has no stream entering or leaving" it l)ut is fed by seepage from springs, and drains off by underground channels, suffers no damage from dams, except occasionally indirectly from neighboring sources. Streams whose water averages more than about 2.5 or 3 feet in depth are rarely dammed, although if shallow rapids occur much deeper streams may be dammed at such places. The width of a stream alone does not easily discourage the beaver and even a swift current is often overcome by anchoring the dam against various obstacles that may be found in the stream. i8o Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin Uses and Construction of Beaver Darns, The dam provides the animals with a sufficient depth of water to insure safety from their enemies and to provide transportation faciHties as well as safe storage places for their winter food supply. Since the entrances to the lodges must \)t rendered secure it is important to maintain a sufficiently high water level to cover them. The water being too deep to freeze to the bottom in winter, the beaver is enabled to move about under the ice and secure his food with the utmost safety. The materials used in building dams are usually green boughs, dry sticks, poles, roots, mud and sand, and occasionally stones (figure 32) are added. When logs are found as part of a beaver dam they have either drifted down or were there before the dam was started, the dam probably being built against them in some cases. The lower side of the dam usually contains exposed sticks and boughs which are arranged generally parallel with the flow, and the upper side is covered with mud, muck and entangling rootlets. Old dams become more or less grass-grown. The length of the dam is very variable and is governed largely by the character of the banks and the duration of the colony in the locality. In some parts of the country old dams have l:)een found measuring thousands of feet in length, the work of many generations of beavers. In the Adirondacks the longest dam which I encountered was about 375 feet in length. Reaver dams require constant attention by the animals. Water is constantly trickling through or over them, and when neglected they soon disintegrate. The height of dams varies within much narrower limits than the length but is governed largely by the same factors. The two highest dams that I saw in the Adirondacks measured 8 feet. 8 inches and II feet, i inch, respectively, from the bottom of the creek at the main channel to the cre.st of the dam (figures 33, 34). While the dams are usually substantial and tenacious afifairs. easily sup- porting the weight of a man and even of larger animals, they ar times have their weak sjHits and give way before the volume of water abo\e them. The literature on the beaver contains statements to the efifect that they sometimes make openings in their dams in times of heavy rains or floods in order to relieve the pressure on the dams. Personally T have never seen any clear evidence of this. Dams mav be straight, curved ui)stream or downstream, zig-zag or anv other form that the situation and circumstances, accident or Adirondack Beaver the vagaries of the animals themselves may determine. There is no reason to suppose that the beaver selects the site of the dam with conscious intent or a knowledge of what the effect will be if it is placed here or there. Canals. In some situations the beaver digs canals of varying length which probably serve mainly for transportation purposes. Where beaver ponds are bordered by open meadow land the tend- ency to construct canals seems to be most often displayed. Possibly the animal's reluctance to go overland is partly responsible for the habit. The canal gives it not only easier means of transportation but greater security in passing back and forth from its foraging grounds. The canals vary from a foot to a yard or more in width, ten inches to two or three feet in depth and from a few yards to four or five hundred feet in length. The earth is dug out with the fore feet and dei)osited on the banks, and not infrequently the even- ness and uniformity of the whole gives it the appearance of having been done by human hands. Some canals that I have seen in stony, unsuitable ground were so narrow that they must have greatly increased rather than diminished the difficulty of transporting boughs. Channels are often dug in shallow ponds in order to secure sufficient depth of water for freedom of movement and transporta- tion. Such channels of course are not usually in evidence except where the water level has fallen, when the bottom of the pond may be seen to be traversed by them in various directions. The Lodge or House. The home of the beaver is either a den at the end of a burrow in the bank, or a "house" or lodge ( figure 35, 36). The lodge is similar to that of the muskrat but is made of sticks instead of reeds or grasses. There are as a rule two entrances to the lodge and they are under water. In the fall of the year the beaver often brings up mud from the bottom of the pond and daubs it upon the outside of the lodge in more or less haphazard fashion. With additions from time to time a lodge may after a few years become pretty well plastered all over with mud. From mv personal observations I should say that as a general rule the beaver adds at least some mud here and there on the lodge, but I have never seen any uniform application of it all over the structure during any one season. One lodge which I happened upon in the Adirondacks had just been started and had a number of daubs of fresh mud in among the freshly cut boughs of which it was being built. The interior of a beaver lodge is a more or less dome-shaped Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin chamber with the floor three or four inches above water level. It is said that sometimes there may be a litter of grass on the floor, or shredded wood ; at other times there may be no litter of any kind. The size of the chamljer is variable, from two or three feet to five or six feet and, in exceptionally large lodges, it has been said to be as much as 20 feet in diameter. The height of the ceiling may be from one and a half to two and a half feet. In the great majority of cases there is only a single chamber ; when more occur it is l>elieved that they represent separate but contiguous lodges. Like the dam, the lodge constantly grows by sporadic additions to the outside, of peeled sticks, poles and mud, so that in the course of a few years a lodge may attain large dimensions. Of the two largest lodges that I happened upon in the Adirondacks one measured 32 feet in its longest diamenter, 29.5 feet in the shortest, and was 6 feet, 7 inches high ; the other was 35 feet and 28 feet in longest and shortest diameters, respectively, and 7 feet in height. As a rule a lodge is occupied by a single family of beavers, which may include the young also of the year before. At times a lodge may be occupied only by a single individual ; and an excep- tionally large one may, according to some writers, have as many as fifteen or twenty occupants. Beavers that live in holes in the bank are often spoken of as ''bank beavers'' but, contrary to popular notions, they are not a different variety of beaver ; in other situations they would build lodges. While the lodge furnishes a safe retreat in which to rest and rear their young, the beavers invariably leave it at the approach of an intruder and seek safety in the water. Classification and Description The beaver is the largest of North American Rodentia or gnaw- ing mammals. It is assigned to the genus Castor of the family Castoridae. This genus contains the only living representatives of the family, namely, the North American beaver, Castor caiiade)isis, and the European Ijeaver, Castor fiber. The American beaver is represented in different sections of the country by a number of geographic races or subspecies. These races are, according to Seton, the type form Castor canadensis eanade)isis. whose range includes the greater part of Canada and approximately the northern half of the United States; C.c. caroliiieiisis. of the southeastern states; C.c. Adirondack Beaver 18 tcxeiisis, limited almost wholly to Texas; C.c. froudator, of the mountain region of the western and- southwestern states; C.c. pacificus, of the Pacific Coast region of the United States, Alaska and Canada. Alore recently, Mr. X'ernon Bailey has descrihed three new subspecies, inichigaiiciisis, iiiissoitrioisis, and uicxicanus from speci- mens from Michigan, the upper Missouri River in North Dakota and from New [Mexico, respectively. A giant slightly beaver-like rodent, of the genus Castoroidcs, at one time occurred in North America. Judged by its fossil remains this animal is believed to have been about the size of a black bear. Its skull was in form strikingly like that of the present day beaver. The American beaver is a thickset, heavy-bodied animal, very similar to the muskrat in general form of body. Its color is reddish brown above and a paler grayish hue below. The tail averages about 15 or 16 inches in length. Its basal third, approximately, is hairy and abruptly demarcated from the remaining part which is con- spicuously scaly, broad and paddle-like, being flattened in the dorso- ventral direction instead of from side to side as in the muskrat. The legs are short, and the hind feet are large, the five toes being connected by broad webs, giving them a striking similarity to the feet of a goose or swan. The second toe has a peculiar "split nail" the function of which is not perfectly clear, although it is believed by some to be used in removing parasites from the fur. The fore feet are also five-toed but relatively small. They are supplied with rather long claws adapted for digging. The ears and the eyes are small, the color of the latter black. The nostrils can be closed when the animal is under water. The front surface of the upper and lower incisors or cutting teeth is of a deep orange color. Outwardly the sexes cannot be told apart except by the more conspicuous mammae in the female. The weight of full-grown specimens may vary from 30 to 60 pounds or possibly more. Historical Dr. C. Hart Merriam ('86, p. 253) says: "That the beaver was once abundant in all parts of the Adirondacks is attested by the numerous remains and effects of their dams ; but at present they are so exceedingly rare that few people know that they still exist here." Farther on the same author quotes DeKay, writing in 1841, with reference to the same general region covered by the present mvestigation (pp. 254-255) : "In the summer of 1840, we traversed i84 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin those almost intermiiialjle forests on the highlands separating the sources of the Hudson and the St. Lawrence, and included in Ham- ilton, Herkimer, and a part of Essex counties. In the course of our journey we saw several beaver signs, as they are termed by the hunters. The Ijeaver has been so much harassed in this State, that it has ceased making dams and contents itself with making large excavations in the banks of streams. Within the past year (1841) they have been seen on Indian and Cedar Rivers, and at Pas- kungameh or Tupper's Lake ; and although they are not numerous, yet they are still found in scattered families in the northern part of Hamilton, the southern part of St. Lawrence and the western part of Essex counties." Says Alerriam, '"At present [that is, in i8(S6], there is a small colony of beavers on a stream that empties into the West Branch of the St. Regis River. It is probably the colony referred to by DeKay, in 1842, as 'yet existing in the southern part of Franklin County.' "' In 1895, it was estimated by H. V. Radford ('07, p. 417) that there could not have been more than about five or ten beavers in the whole Adirondack region. Some Erroneous Popular Beliefs. Among the erroneous ideas more or less current is the notion that the beaver begins his dam by felling trees across the stream and that the dam is ljuilt out of logs. While the shape of the tail is suggestive of a trowel it is not used as such ; nor is it used as a raft for transportation of mud or other things. Mud is carried in the forepaws which have developed hand- like skill and functions. It is no more possible for a beaver to suck air out of branches and poles thus causing them to sink, than it is for a human being to do so. Green wood is nearly as heavy as water and after being immersed a short time will sink of its own accord. Dry wood like- wise becomes water-logged and sulimerges but takes longer. The beaver makes the sticks or branches stay down at first by partlv covering them with mud or hy anchoring them among stones or debris on the bottom. Beavers have no means for driving poles into the ground and have never been known to do so. The beaver does not catch or eat fish. One person in the .\di- rondacks told me of having seen a photograph of a beaver that had a fish in its mouth. If not actually intended as a joke such a photo- graph represents merely an amateurish attempt at nature-faking. Adirondack Beaver References to Literature Bartlett, G. W. 1921. Algonquin Provincial Park of Ontario (pp. 1 16-120). Report of the Minister of Lands and Forests of the Province of Ontario for 1920, pp. 1-238. Toronto. Dana, S. T. 1909. Paper Birch in the Northeast. U. S. Dept. Agri., For- est Service, Cir. 163, pp. 1-37. DuGMORE, A. Radclvffe. 1914. The Romance of the Beaver. Pp. 1-225. Phila. ■ Grant, AL-\dison. 1903. Notes on Adirondack Mammals with Special Reference to the Fur-Bearers. Eighth and Ninth Reports of the N. Y. Forest, Fish and Ciame Comm. for 1902 and 1903, PP- 319-334- JoHXsox, Charles E. 1921. Beaver "Forms." Jour, of Mammalogy, Vol. 2, pp. 171-172. Lawrie, Jas. a. 1921. Beaver vs. Trout — More Testimony. Fins, Feathers and Fur, No. 27, p. 5. M.VRSH, M. C. 1910. Notes on the Dissolved Content of Water in its Effect Upon Fishes. \J. S. Bur. Fisheries, Bull. \'ol. 28, pp. 891-906. Martin, H. T. 1892. Castorologia, or the History and Traditions of the Canadian Beaver. Pp. 1-238. Montreal and London. ]\Ierriam, C. H. 1886. The Mammals of the Adirondack Region. Pp. 1-316. New York. r^iiLLs, Enos a. 1913. In Beaver World. Pp. 1-228. Boston. Moody, F. B. 1916. Protection of Beaver in \\'isconsin. Amer. Forestry, Vol. 22, pp. 220-224. Morgan, Lewis H. 1868. American Beaver and His \\'orks. Pp. 1-330. Phila. Pratt, Geo. D. 1920. Ninth Annual Report of the New York Conservation Commission for the Year 1919. Pp. 1-255. Albany. 1921. Tenth Annual Report of the New York Conservation Commission for the Year 1920. Pp. 1-319. Legisla- tive Doc. (1921) No. 95. Albany. i86 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin Radford, Harry V. 1907. History of the Adirondack Beaver. Ann. Reports of N. Y. State Forest, Fish and Game Comm. for 1904, '05, '06, pp. 3.'sto)ic Beaver 191 These localities, together with a luimher of sma'ler ponds near hy, harbor many colonies of lieaver and represent a great variety of conditions. They are all easily accessible to the tourist by either roads or trails. Colony near Yellowstone Bridge. The group of ponds paral- lelling the Cooke City road, near the Yellowstone Bridge (figure 37) is the one which visitors to Camp Roosevelt are most likely to see. If they do not make a special visit to the ponds they are almost sure to pass them on the way to the Yellowstone or Lamar rivers on fishing trips. Therefore a somewhat detailed account of them may not be out of place here. ^Mr. M. P. Skinner, the Park Naturalist, informs me that there were no beaver at this place ten \ ears ago, so that all the work here has been done within that period of time. Here is a steep, narrow gulch, with a small stream of water, and formerly densely set with aspens, along which have been constructed about twenty dams of various lengths, making a series of ponds which form a continuous waterway for several hundred feet. There are two lodges, and in one pond beaver were living in burrows whose entrances were protected by log-piles (figure 38). In this pond there were at least three beavers, an adult and two yearlings. Quite pos- sibly there may also have been another adult. In one of the lodges were 2 adults, 3 yearlings, and 3 of the season's youngsters. A question often asked is : Why do the beavers have so many ponds? There are several reasons for this. In the first place, these ponds were most probably not all built at once, but successively, those lowest downstream first. As the green aspens growing in the gulch and on the hillside were cut down and used for food, the animals had to move upstream to get nearer the food supply and so more dams were built. A beaver always prefers to travel in the water when it can ; it is too much at the mercy of its enemies when on land, and also it can float sticks along a pond to the dam, drag them over the next to the pond below, and thus take them wherever desired. As practically all the green aspens in this gulch near the water as well as on the adjoining hillside are now cut. there is but little available food unless the animals go some distance above the uppermost ponds, where the space is too narrow and the slope too steep to make s'zable pools. They do appear, however, to be work- ing that way. Their other alternative is to go across the road to the large grove on the hillside above, and opposite the ponds (figure 39). They have cut down some trees there, but it is a dangerous 192 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin place as they are exposed to attack while going to and fro. It was reported to me that one beaver had been killed there this season by- some animal. This large grove should afford a supply of food for some years to come. I am interested to see what will be the outcome there, so I have marked the stumps of the trees cut by beaver, over 300 in all, by pounding the end of a half-inch iron pipe into them, making a circular mark in the wood. This will enable a future observer to identify the new cuttings. Another use of a series of ponds is the protection which they give one another in times of high water. A dam backs water up against the dam above, strengthening it and helping it to resist increased pressures, while the ponds and dams still farther above, by holding back the flood water, distribute it more evenly and relieve the ponds below. To man, beaver ponds are useful in conserving the water supply, retaining much of the rain and snow which would otherwise pass off at once and go to waste. South Fork of Elk Creek. A mile from Camp Roosevelt along the main highway, a road branches off to the Petrified Tree. Along this road one is immediately interested by the series of beaver ponds and the belt of tall dead timber in the ravine below. A fine forest sweeps up the slope beyond. The dead timber was killed by flooding as the result of a series of beaver dams built along the small stream in recent years. The area was practically abandoned after the beavers had used up all the aspens nearly to the head of the ravine. They are still at work intermittently on the few remaining large aspens in the swale opposite the Petrified Tree ; but little or no effort is made to keep in repair the works below. The ravine is a tangle of silty ponds and grass-grown dams, through which many sluices and channels drain the water. Apparently the bea\ers use it chiefly as a highway now. Lower down on the South Fork, in the forest just above the Yancey cabins, is a newer series of ponds and dams ; but the same process of flooding the spruce flat and using up the aspen is going on steadily, and In- and In- the occupants will have to seek new homes. Whether the colony there migrated from the upper part of the stream or from some other locality is an interesting question. North Fork of Elk Creek. Other groups of ponds which at least some of the visitors see, are those on the North Fork of Elk Creek, to the west of Yanceys, and on the high flat between the North and South Forks. In the former group is a very long dam, 350 feet in Fig. 41. Freslily cut aspen logs, near pond on Ijench above Yancc\s, August 10, 1921. These trees are about 6 to 10 inches in diameter. Fig. 42. The large pond at Lru^ccnt Hill; \ ilw from the upper end, showing beaver lodge and fringe of dead aspen. Yclloivstoiic Beaver 195 length (figure 40). In spite of the great length of dam the jiond is not much more than 100 feet wide. It contains a medium-sized, tyjiically shaped lodge. Below this dam is another, the pond belong- ing to which is nearly filled up with silt, and much of it grown up lo grass and willows. — a good example on a small scale of the mak- ing of a heaver meadow. And helow this dam, strung along the creek for nearly half a mile, are no less than thirteen very old dams. Some of those farthest down the stream are being ])artially rebuilt and new ponds are forming. Above the large dam is another 250 feet in length. The pond originally formed by this has lieen drained by a tunnel through the dam at the level of the water in the pond below. Above this is the unusual occurrence of a double series of ponds and dams. The easterly one, of five ponds, takes its water from flat, swampy ground. The westerly group of nine, a series of small ponds, is on the stream itself. On the high flat between the North and South Forks is a small stream along whose narrow guUey the beavers have long since destroyed all the aspen nearly to its source, their disintegrating dams now alone remaining. This little stream is fed by cold springs in a dense old Engelmann spruce woods, along whose margin are fine mature groves of aspen. The beavers have now dammed the brook- let clear to the borders of the spruce bog, and a very interesting point to notice here is that the evaporation from the large pond seems to nearly balance the inflow, so that no water flows over the dam. If the flow of water into the pond does increase, from heavy rains for instance, the beavers at once build up the dam a bit higher, utilizing every drop of water. This largest pond contains two lodges. IMany aspens have !)een freshly cut in a fine grove close along the shore (figure 41). In the marshv ground above, several small ponds have been dug out and dams built of mud during the past season, as well as more typical dams. In one of these ponds a small lodge was constructed l;etween August 10 and September 4. and aspen brush stored Ijeside it. Beaver Ponds near Crescent Hi!l. These are located in the beautiful region at the very head of the North Fork of Elk Creek, easily reached on horseljack or on foot. The largest of the ponds (figure 42), at the foot of the Cre.scent Hill clifi's, lies in a perfect setting of forested hills and open grassy valleys. Most of the nearby aspen has lieen cut, but the beavers keep the dam in fair repair, so Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin as to maintain a water highway at least, and forage farther and farther away. Over the divide from this pond is another large one, without visible outlet or inlet, where much fresh felling of aspen is going on. The trail to the lower Yellowstone River traverses the shores of this attractive pond. The Tower Creek Works. Two miles above Tower Fall, and adjacent to the Creek, are some fine beaver works wed worth a visit by anyone interested in the subject. Here is a dam 275 feet long (figure 43) making a good sized pond, which contains a dense grove of large spruce killed by flooding. This pond is on the first flat o*" terrace above the creek, and receives its water supply from a very large spring a short distance above. Between this pond and the spring are many small ponds, and there are more below the large dam. Doubtless when the winter snows are melting and Tower Creek is high, it overflows this flat and floods these ponds. There is a giant beaver lodge in the midst of the heavilv timbered flat (figure 61). The fact that all of the works here are on a large scale makes them of especial interest. The narrow and very deep ravine running nearly east and west, resulting in very different types of forest on the north and south slopes, has had the effect of confining the beaver cuttings to the broad aspen slope of southern exposure. Therefore the beaver runways, slides and canals are especially marked and elaborate there. Figure 44 shows one of the steep and wellworn slides down which the beavers drag their loads of aspen from the open groves above, to the nearest corner of the big pond (indicated in figure 43). On Carnelian Creek, tributary to Tower Creek, a pretty bit of engineering work was found. At a bend of the stream was a portion of an old dam, extending perhaps half way across. A low extension had been added to it, carrying it enough farther along to deflect part of the water onto the level bank of the stream, which was quite low at this place (figure 60). This water supplied a series of three sizable ponds on the flat, the lowermost of which was several feet above the creek level at that point. Lost Creek, Above the Fall. On the plateau above Camp Roose- velt the beavers are very active, and their dams in all stages of con- struction and disintegration indicate many years of habitation there. There are three ponds now in use, one of these containing three houses (figure 45) ; and some distance above is a newer group of Fig. 46. Pond No. 14 on Lost Creek, showing gravel washed in. Illustrating how an abandoned pond may become filled with silt and debris. Fig. 47. Lost Lake, near Camp Roosevelt. A party of naturalists and boys from the Forest and Trail Camp on a beaver study excursion. Fig. 48. I'pper beaver meadows on Lost Creek, above Yanceys. showing old dam. These were large ponds when Ernest Thompson Seton studied them in l807. Yelloivstonc Beaver four small ponds. Figure 45 shows how high and steep a slope the beaver will denude of its aspen growth; and figure 46 tells the story of the silting up of beaver ponds as a result of spring freshets and summer thunder storms. One wonders at first how the beavers, clumsy enough on land, ever reached the upper creek waters, for the high Lost Creek Fall drops sheer into a deep gorge hemmed in by perpendicular cliffs. But the creatures find their way to the plateau by other drainage lines, doubtless from Elk Creek on the north and the headwaters of some branches of Tower Creek on the south. Lost Lake. This is an exquisite little lake (figure 47) amid the hills on the heights back of Camp Roosevelt, and readily reached by a steep footpath through the lodgepole pine forest. It is long and narrow, with both ends grown up to thick grass and the margins dense with luxuriant yellow water lilies. Its shores pitch sharply to considerable depths, soundings of 48 feet being obtained in it. It is a spring- fed ravine lake, raised somewhat by the old, low beaver dam near its rock-rim outlet at the margin of the plateau. There is one lodge there, and beavers were noted many times swimming about in the daytime. This is the happy result of its long seclusion, and the animals will always be unafraid so long as people take care not to disturb them. The roots of the water lilies would appear to be about the only readily available food there at the present time, although a few aspens have been recently cut a short distance back from the outlet, but nevertheless quite a long way from the open water and the lodge. There was a channel through the marsh grass to the dam ; and this and other signs indicated that the lake is a way station between the Elk Creek and Lost Creek works. The Yancey Meadows. The final result of the filling up of such a pond is a beaver meadow, and one cannot find a better example of this than the one near the old Yancey place (figure 48), where hay is now extensively cut and stacked for the winter feed of elk and buffalo, and the Rangers' horses ; and where bands of antelope hc^unt the margins of the broad lowland. Yet no longer ago than 1897 there were ponds here occupied by an active colony of beavers. Seton gives ('09, pp. 455-472) a very full description of them, with a sketch map. About 1903 or 1904 the beavers abandoned the place, very possibly because they had exhausted the available supply of aspen, and it gradually changed to its present condition. I examined the stream for traces of the old dams, and though I found some of 200 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin them, in most cases they had decayed and settled down to the level of the surrounding surface, shoving that a comparatively short period of time is necessary to form a meadow. Farther down on the South Fork of Elk Creek, below Yanceys, are old dams which were broken through by high water twenty-five years ago. Description o£ Beaver. As muskrats often inhabit beaver ponds. Park visitors unfamiliar with either animal should bear in mind that the adult beaver is much larger than the muskrat. In appearance a beaver is somewhat like a big, overgrown muskrat, with a broad, flat, scaly tail. Even the brown color of the fur is not at all unlike a muskrat's. The total length of an adult beaver is about 42 inches, of which 16 inches is the tail, — the black, scaly portion being about 9 inches long and 4 inches wide. It will weigh 35 pounds and upward, even reaching 60 or more, although that is unusual. The hind feet are broad and webbed and the second toe has a curiously split nail. This latter is said to be used for combing the hair, but I do not know of anyone who has seen it so used. The forepaws are small, and the animal uses them much as hands, holding sticks when gnawing the bark from them, and also using them for digging up bottom mud and sod which are carried to any desired spot for building purposes, holding the material with the paws against the chin. The fur is of two kinds, — the close, dense undercoat, and the long, outer guard hairs. These latter are usually plucked out in preparing the fur for the trade. The huge incisors or front teeth are the tools with which the beaver does his wood cutting, and are eminently adapted to the purpose (figure 49). These teeth on the front side are composed mainly of a thin edge of very hard enamel, with a broad layer behind of rela- tively soft dentine. As the tooth is used the softer dentine wears away much faster than the enamel, so that there is always a sharp chisel edge on the front of the tooth. These teeth grow continuously during the life of the animal, and if liy any accident one is broken or so injured that it does not oppose the one in the opposite jaw, the latter may grow out to such an extent as to seriously incon- venience the animal, if not to cause its death from inability to feed. The incisors are long, and the hidden portions have much curvature within the skull and lower jaw. Morgan gives the radius of the curvature of the upper incisors as one inch, and of the lower, one and three-quarters inches The front of the incisors is deep orange Fig. 50. Cottonwood tree partly cut l)y a beaver. The rule in the cut is 2 feet long. Trinchera Estate, Costilla County, Colorado, May 11, 1913. Fig. 51. Large aspen partly cut by beaver. The tree measured 4.6 feet in circumference above the notch. Photographed July 22, 1921. Fig. 52. The large aspen afler it had been felled. Photographed September 4. lyji. It was still standing August 28. The rule on the stump is six inches long. Yellowstone Beaver 203 in color. There are four teeth in the molar series on either side of each jaw, formed on much the same principle as the incisors, of ver- tical layers of enamel and dentine, the unequal wear of which gives a good grinding surface. Food of the Beaver The food of the beaver consists largely of the bark of deciduous trees, of which, in the Yellowstone and other parts of the west, aspen is the favorite. Willows and alders are also used, but not the bark of conifers, except occasionally. In summer other plants are also used ; and I have noticed that they seemed especially fond of wild rose bushes. The beavers would go up on the hillside, near the Cooke City road, at Camp Roosevelt, and gather great bunches of these, holding them in their mouths and trailing them along down to the water. They sometimes ate them there by the bank, and some- times they would swim with them to the lodge, diving and carrying them inside. Cow parsnip, choke cherry and various others of the plants growing along the shores of the ponds were also eaten. At Crescent Hill, near Yanceys, we saw beaver trails leading through the grass to where many thistles had been nipped off close to the ground. I saw grass carried to the lodge on several occasions, but there is a possibility that it might have been used for bedding. One often sees in popular articles the statement that a beaver cuts a tree so as to make it fall in any desired direction. This is not true, as the animal makes the cut where most convenient to himself, and lets the tree fall as it may. On a steep hillside, and with trees up to six inches in diameter, in a great majority of cases the cut will be made on the uphill side, or on one side or the other, rarely on the downhill side, and all the cutting will be done from one side. From the way the cuts are made, one might suppose the trees would fall uphill, or to one side, but nearly all of them fall downhill, because they naturally lean that way. When the trees are growing on level ground it is a different matter. They are usually cut quite evenly all round, especially if the tree is a large one. This is well illustrated in the case of the Cottonwood in figure 50. A beaver may start to cut a tree, and then stop work, returning some time later to finish the job. This was finely illustrated in the case of a large aspen on the North Fork of Elk Creek, beyond Yanceys (figure 51). This was first seen July 20, and then had a considerable notch in it, not very freshly cut, but 204 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin done recently. The tree was seen from time to time and on August 28 was still standing, but on September 4 was found to have been felled (figure 52). The tree measured 4.6 feet in circumference above the notch when standing. Why does a beaver occasionally cut a tree and leave it where it has fallen, unused ? Frankly, I do not know. I have in mind a lodgepole pine, about 4 feet in circumference, which we found on Tower Creek by the large spring, about two miles above Tower Fall. Beaver had cut it, and there it lay untouched. Across the stump lay another conifer which they had also cut, and likewise had not used. It looks almost like wanton waste. The big lodgepole pine was difficult cutting, being of harder wood, and the chips beside it were much smaller than those cut from aspens. I have found some of the latter nearly seven inches long, while the largest pine chips were about four inches long. The height of stumps varies, ordinarily ranging from 6 to 20 inches. I found a few from 2 to 3 inches high, and a group of half a dozen from 3 to 4 feet high. One curious thing about these last is that the trunks were lying there unused. They appear to have been cut when deep snow was on the ground. In Colorado I have found the beaver active in the snow, as shown in figures 53 and 54. The largest stump cut by a beaver, of which I have personal knowledge, is a cottonwood in the Colorado Museum of Natural History, at Denver, which is 2 feet, 5.5 inches in diameter, and came from the Platte River above Denver. Director J. D. Figgins writes me that there is evidence of long intervals between the periods of cutting on this stump. Enos Mills mentions one stump of 3 feet, 6 inches in diameter, on the Jefferson River, Montana, near the mouth of Pipestone Creek. Some measurements were made with the idea of ascertaining how far a beaver will go from water to cut a tree, but the results were rather inconclusive. At Crescent Lake old stumps were found 220 feet from the water's edge, but there were no trees farther away, and there seem to have been none formerly. This was the greatest distance found. At Lost Creek they foraged 175 feet away from the ]3onds, in this case to the limit of the aspens and the beginning of the pines (figure 45). As cold weather approaches the beaver begins to make provision for the winter ; so that besides seeing that the dam is in good order. 55- Willow brusli in beaver pond, cut and stored by beaver. Near Crested Butte, Colorado. 56. A beaver dam near Brush Creek. Gunnison County, Colorado, showing pine logs projecting above the dam. An unusual occurrence. Yellozvstone Beaver 207 and the house well plastered with mud, it also begins to lay in a stock of provisions, in the shape of logs and branches of trees upon whose bark it feeds. Where aspens are available, these are the pre- ferred sort, and willows and alders are likewise used, but the alders seem to be third choice. Where they are found, maple and birch are also made use of, and are much liked. Whatever species are used, the wood is taken to the pond and stored in the water. The small logs or poles are carried to the bottom and forced into the mud sufficiently to hold them until more is piled on them. While green aspen does not sink, as I have seen stated in a recent popular article on the beaver, but floats, it is very heavy, and doubtless after a time becomes waterlogged, though one often sees freshly peeled green sticks floating in the pond where they have been discarded. These food piles are usually at the lodge or close by. When the pond is covered with ice the owner comes out under water, cuts off a length and carries it indoors, where the bark is eaten, the peeled stick being carried out and left in the water. In Colorado I found a mass of stored willow brush extending 100 feet along the shore, in water four feet deep, and piled up to the surface (figure 55). These willows were from three to eight feet long, and it will readily be seen that they represent much work as well as a large amount of food. Beaver Engineering Dams. Beavers use four different types of construction : dams, lodges, burrows and canals ; but not every beaver uses them all, many living only in burrows, and probably are as well or better off for that. This happens when they are living on a stream too deep or swift for dams or lodges. A dam is begun by laying twigs and branches on the bottom, butt ends upstream, and very likely forced into the bottom. These are covered with gravel or mud dug from the upstream side, stones also often being used. More twigs are then laid on top and covered, and thus the dam is built up until its top appears above the surface and a pond begins to form. The dam is carried up to the required height and the top is plastered with mud. The builders keep close watch on it, and are continually making repairs and additions. A beaver dam is never finished while the pond is occupied, its owners con- tinually adding something to it. Perhaps the water may flow around the end. That is stopped with mud or sticks, whereupon the water in the pond rises so that the main dam has to be added in order to 208 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin hold it, and then more water goes out around the ends and the process is repeated. I have but little doubt that many of the long, crooked dams which we see were thus built, not by design but by this continual effort to stop the leaking over and around the dams. Not all dams are built in streams. Some are built across gulches or on the sides of the valley, to control the water from springs. The largest pond 1 examined near Camp Roosevelt lies between Crescent Hill and a low ridge to the east (figure 42). It is 800 feet long by 340 feet wide, and is controlled by a comparatively short dam 165 feet long. This pond is supplied by springs, no surface water flow- ing into it except in the spring of the year when the snow is melting. There is quite a series of dams and small ponds below the large one, and several hundred feet downstream is a new dam which in time may make a fair sized pond, for the builders have selected the most suitable site, where the rather wide valley narrows somewhat, making it possible for a comparatively short dam to back up con- siderable water. Also on Tower Creek, about two miles above Tower Falls, is an extensive series of ponds deriving their water supply from a very large spring on the flat ground scarcely one hundred feet from the stream and but a few feet above its level. A low dam had i^een built across the lower side of the spring, which is now about fifty feet in diameter, and measures eight feet deep. Let us return to the building of the dam. On the lower face are placed many sticks, often those from which the bark has been eaten, or willow branches are used, and I have seen quite good sized logs utilized, whose ends projected high above the dam (figure 56). Whatever the material, these sticks are generally placed up and down the face, not transversely (figure 57). There is invariably, I think, a trail over the dam where the beavers cross, and this is always where the stream is, so that they may go down into the water from above. It seems to me likely that in beginning a dam some of the branches are customarily laid across the current, for I have seen a number of dams which appear to have been thus underpinned. Moreover, when a dam is cut through, whether by man or by natural agencies, there are always the ends of sticks showing in the cross section thus exposed, indicating that thev are deliberatelv laid crosswise (figure 58). Dams are not always built completely across the stream. I recall a series of three dams in Colorado, none of which extended all the Fig. 57. Dam in which willow brush was largely used in construction, and with which the face is covered. A good example of this type. Monument Creek, El Paso, Colorado. Fig. 58. Section of beaver dam, showing underpinning of sticks laid Crns.swise tn thp riirrent Npar CrfifpA "Rnftp P/^lnrcirln Fig. 59. Series of three beaver dams placed so as to form deep, quiet pools bj' the bank of the stream ; on Slate Kivcr, Gunnison County. Colorado. Fig. 60. Diversion dam on Carnelian Creek, turning part of the stream onto the bank to supply ponds there. Vclloivstoiic Beaver 211 way across the river (figure 59). One of these was on one side, the other two on the other, and they were placed in such a manner as to deflect the water first to one side, then back again, forming deep, quiet pools. The diversion dam on Carnelian Creek, already described (p. 196), also illustrates this method of building (figure 60). As to the length of dams, they vary from a foot or two up to several hundred feet in length. The longest I measured was 35c feet long, on the North Fork of Elk Creek (figure 40). Seton speaks of one near Obsidian Cliflf which he thought was 400 yards long. Enos Mills mentions one near Three Forks, Montana, 2,140 feet long, mostly old, more than one-half of which was less than 6 feet high, two short sections being 23 feet wide at the base, 5 at the top and 14 high. Dams vary in height as in length, but I think they are rarely more than 6 feet high on the lower face, usually less. The thickness of the base varies firstly with the height,, and secondly with the age of the dam, for as the material settles with age it tends to spread; and silt also settles at the base, so that even if the structure does not increase in height it may become wider. If a dam is abandoned it gradually goes to ruin, yet many of the dams in Yellowstone Park and elsewhere have probably been aban- doned at times for a number of years, and then repaired and reoc- cupied by a new colony of beavers. Lodges. Lodges may be divided into two sorts, those built out in the water away from shore, and bank lodges. The former must have a foundation of some sort to start with, as a small island, or an elevation of the pond bottom sufficient for a beginning. Seem- ingly the lodge begins with a burrow, covered with mud and sod, on which sticks are laid, much as in building a dam. The interior is kept hollowed out as the work progresses, and the structure is more loosely built above the chaml)er to permit of ventilation. The floor is a few inches above water level, and is furnished with a bed of grass or shredded wood fiber. Dugmore says there are two levels to the floor, the lower for drying and feeding, the upper for a bed. There are usually at least two entrances to a house. In size they range from 8 feet to 10 feet in diameter and up. The largest house I have ever seen and measured is one in the large pond on Tower Creek previovisly mentioned (figure 6r). It is 21 by 24 feet in diameter, and 7 feet 3 inches above the water level. Five entrances were found. Dugmore mentions a house in Newfoundland 212 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin that was 37 feet in its greatest diameter. An old house in a drained pond in Colorado, which I opened for examination, was 8 feet wide across the section, and 10 feet the other way (figure 62). The chamber was 2 feet wide, and extended Imck 4.5 feet. It was a foot high, but I suspect that the roof had settled. It was furnished with a bed of swamp grass. Dugmore gives the dimensions of one chamber as follows: 4 feet 10 inches long, four feet five inches wide, 2 feet i inch high, lower floor 4 inches above water, bed floor 6 inches higher. Bank lodges are of two kinds, probably with intermediate .stages between them. One sort is built against the lank, or w^ith at least part of the structure projecting into the water, really a burrow extended and roofed over. The other kind is wholly within the bank, connected with the water by a burrow, and is simply a burrow enlarged and covered. A new one and an old one of this latter type were seen on Carnelian Creek. The former (figure 63) was 4 feet back from the stream bank, 15 inches above ground level, and 3 feet in diameter. An example of the first kind may be seen near Camp Roosevelt, below the Cooke City road, and the one in a pond a little lower down (figure 64) may possibly belong here. This last is the one which was occupied by a family of beavers in the summer of 192 1. Burrows. Besides a lodge a beaver colony always has one or more burrows in the banks of a pond as additional refuges. One of these on the North Fork of Elk Creek was 31 feet long, which is probably unusual, the majority no doubt Ijeing much shorter. One sometimes sees j)iles of logs and sticks in the water over the entrances to holes. These may in time develop into lodges. In Tower Creek I concluded that beaver were living in a log jam where there w-as a mass of debris high enough and solid enough to afford shelter for one or more of the animals, and no other place v.-as found where they might be living. Also at another place on the same stream there was beside the bank a somewhat confused mass of sticks and logs which likewise appeared to be used as a dwelling. The creatures are undoubtedly very adaptable in their choice of dwelling places. Canals. I am somewhat disposed to tlie belief that in some respects the canal is a higher engineering achievement than the dam. To deliberately plan and dig a channel in which to float logs to a pond, and not only that, but also to build dams in this channel to hold the water to a desired level, is an intelligent act. This is what Fig. 6i. The big lodge adjacent to Tower Creek, in midst of iieavy Engelmann spruce forest. Diameter 24 feet; height 7 feet, 3 inches above the water. Fig. 63. Bank lodge 011 Cariulian C reek. Doubtless during high water in spring this would be flooded and untenable. Fig. 64. Lodge in one of the ponds along Cooke City road- An example of a house lodge built against the bank. Occupied by at least eight beavers. I Yellowstone Beaver 21? the animals do, however, when the trees are at a distance from the shore, and the ground is flat enough to permit of carrying water in on a level, or controlling it by miniature dams. These ditches vary in width from i to 4 feet, in depth from 8 inches to 2 feet, and the length may be but a few feet or very much more. Morgan mentions two in Michigan 523 and 579 feet long respec- tively. There is one on Tower Creek 90 feet long, and another 150 feet. Where the slope of the ground is such that the water would not maintain its level in the canal, a small dam is built to hold it back. Thus one of the Tower Creek canals was 17 feet long at the pond level from the shore to the lower end of the dam, and 23 feet to the upper side of the dam, and above this was another section of ditch 64 feet long (figure 65). The lower level of course obtained its water from the pond and was 15 inches deep (figure 66). The upper level was 9 inches deep and was supplied by drainage from the marshy ground about it. The canal was from 15 to 18 inches wide. The difference in level between the two parts was 20 inches. The long, gradual slope of the lower face of the dam facilitated dragging logs over it. The other canal on Tower Creek was about half a mile up the creek from the preceding (figure 67). It was connected with the stream by a trail 23 feet long, and at the time of the examination this was 2 feet above the water level. This canal was from 3 to 4 feet wide, and 12 to 18 inches deep. The westerly bank was considerably lower than the other, and was being raised by mud dug from the bottom. The water supply was apparently derived from a spring at the landward end. Life History, Other Habits, and Enemies The number of young in a litter is from two to five, three or four being probably most common. They are born during May. I have not been able to learn at what time they first make their appearance outside the home nest ; but most writers state that they appear in a very few weeks. At Camp Roosevelt I was sure there must be a family in the lodge in one of the ponds on the Cooke City road. There were two adults (figures 69, 70) and three yearlings seen almost every evening, but no smaller animals. I looked for them on my frequent visits, but it was not until August 22 that the young were seen, three, as large as big muskrats. Having a close look at one, I estimated its length as eighteen inches, while the yearlings 2l6 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin were 30 inches or less. It is possible, of course, that these young were not allowed out of the lodge when people were about. They were certainly well able to take care of themselves when they did appear. The beaver we watched were quite playful at times, at least the yearlings ; and I also saw the kits play together once, but I spoiled the little game with the noise of a graflex shutter, and it ceased suddenly with a great splash. The game seemed to be to push each other about in the water. This appeared to be by placing cheeks and shoulders together, and pushing, and perhaps pulling, for they may have been holding with the forepaws. In any event two once rolled clear over in the water without losing their grip. My assistant said they made a noise like a young kitten, only sharper. Others have likened the voice of a beaver to that of a young puppy. A beaver is undoubtedly at home in the water, even though its gait on land is a very awkward waddle. The hind feet alone are used in swimming, the tail not at all, except at times as a rudder. It is remarkable how quietly they can submerge and swim under water. One afternoon at the group of ponds by the Cooke Cit)' road a beaver was in shallow water eating some willow twigs it had cut. I was attempting to get into a position where I could get a picture, and was standing on some poles over the water. My movements dis- turbed the animal and it disappeared ; but after an interval I saw it floating on the other side, watching me. To get to this place it had to pass under the poles on which I stood, and yet I had seen no indi- cation of the passage. It went back and forth several times, always without detection. During the summer a fishing party saw a beaver swim the Yellow- stone in the canyon about half a mile below Elk Creek. It was working upstream and crossed several times. \\'henever it came to very swift or rough water it dove and swam under water, coming to the surface again in a smooth place. It landed so close to a boy in the party that he laid a fishing rod over its back. Beavers have a habit of occasionally making little piles of mud, round and flattened, and depositing their castoreum on them. This seems to serve in some way as a means of communication with other beavers. I found one such on upper Lost Creek when making my examination of that group of dams (figure 68). It was quite fresh when found, and must have been made one or two nights preceding, for we had been there just previously. It was a trifle more than a foot in diameter, and about four inches thick. Fig. 6". Canal and mud banks half a mile above group of ponds at the big spring by Tower Creek. Fig. 68. Mud "sign heap" in upper Lost Creek; about a foot in diameter and four inches thick. The beavers deposit their castoreum on these piles, perhaps as a means of communication. ycllowstoiw Beaver 219 Castoreum is a secretion found in two glands situated in the pubic region. It has a mild odor which appears to be attractive to other animals besides beaver. It is used as a bait in trapping the beavers themselves, a little of it being placed in such a position that the animal in coming to it is caught in the trap. It was formerly used as a medicine, still has a market value, and is a regular article of trade with the fur buyers under the name of " beaver castors." Beavers have a number of enemies which never hesitate to pounce upon them whenever they get the chance. When the animal is on land its awkward gait makes it a comparatively easy prey to such predatory animals as mountain lions, bears, wolves, coyotes, or wol- verines. Otters are also said to attack them. If that is the case, otters must be dreaded foes, for they are as much at home in the water as the beavers themselves. Value of Beaver to the Park Visitor The value of the beaver to the Park visitor is something rather difficult to put into words, but the creature has a real fascination for the intelligent tourist. Here is an animal of most interesting habits which was once to be found over the greater part of the United States but has since been exterminated from large areas, yet has left traces of its former presence in such place names as Beaver Brook, Creek, Kill, River, Lake, Falls, Hill, Dam and Meadow. It can still be found in abundance in many parts of Yellowstone Park and the surrounding National Forests, affording opportunity for observ- ing its habits and studying its works. Surely this is, a valuable privilege for all who can visit the great Park. . It is worth while to observe in its native haunts a creature, whose fur has been an object of pursuit from the earliest days of North American settlement, and the search for which marked the beginning of the exploration and settlement of much of our western country, and which is still to be found undisturbed and free from molestation by the trapper. Many a meadow in the thickly settled east was once a beaver pond. In the Park sanctuary the visitor from those regions may see meadows which only a few short years ago were ponds inhabited by colonies of beavers, but which are now yielding hay for the support of larger animals. Certainly an animal in which the great majority of tourists are interested is of value both to them and to the Park. The visitor can learn much about beaver ways without the trouble Fig. 69. Beaver swimming. Photographed at the large pond at Crescent Hill ; about noon, July 22, 1921. Fig. 70. Beaver crossing a dam. Photographed from beside the Cooke City road near Yellow'Stone River bridge in mid-afternoon. Yclloicsfoiic Bearer 221 of long excursions into the wilderness, — how they fell trees for food and habitation, their marvelous engineering skill in damming streams and constructing lodges, their family life, and their relation to their surroundings. It is worth while to know these interesting facts at first hand rather than solely from pictures and books. References to Literature DUC.MORE, A. R.\DCLVFFE. 1914. The Romance of the Beaver. Pp. 1-225. Phila. Johnson, Charles E. 1922. An Investigation of the Beaver in Hamilton and Herki- mer Counties of the x^dirondacks. Roosevelt Wild Life Bull., \'ol. I, No. 2, pp. 1 17-186. Mills, Ends A. 1913. In Beaver W orld. Pp. 1-228. Boston. Morgan, Lewis H. 1868. American Beaver and His Works. Pp. T-330. Phila. Seton, E. T. 1909. Life Histories of Northern Animals. Vol. i, pp. 1-673; \^oI. 2, pp. 674-1267. New York. 1913. Wild Animals at Home. Pp. 1-226. New York. Warren, E. R. 1905. Some Interesting Beaver Dams in Colorado. Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci. Vol. 6, pp. 429-437. WILD LIFE AND DEMOCRACY "Above all, the people, as a whole, should keep steadily in mind the fact that the preservation of both game and lesser wild life — by wise general laws, by the prohibition of the commercialism which destroys whole species for the profit of a few individuals, and by the creation of national reserves for wild life — is essentially a democratic movement. It is a movement in the interest of the average citizen, and especially in the interest of the man of small means. Wealthy men can keep private game preserves and private parks in which they can see all kinds of strange and beautiful creatures; but the ordinary men and women, and especially those of small means, can enjoy the loveliness and the wonder of nature, and can revel in the sight of beautiful birds, only on terms that will permit their fellow-citizens the like enjoyment. In other words, the people as a whole through the government, mv.st protect wild life, if the people as a whole are to enjoy it. This applies to game also." Theodore Roosevelt and Edmund Heller. Life Histories of African Game Animals. Vol. I, pp. 155-156, 1914- [222] . CURRENT STATION NOTES Viscount James Bryce In the death of Viscount Bryce, America has lost a friend whose sympathetic understanding of our democratic institutions and high ideals of statesmanship have won for him the affection of the American people. At this period of reconstruction when such leadership as he gave for a generation is so much needed to extend international good will, the loss of the " world's greatest Liberal " is especially felt. When invited to become a member of the Honorary Advisory Council of the Roosevelt Station he responded in characteristic manner : " I cordially appreciate your invitation to become a member of the Honorary Council proposed to be created, and as I assume that membership thereof does not involve active duties, which of course my residence in England would not permit me to discharge, I have much pleasure in accepting the honor." He further adds that he is in " hearty sympathy with the work described [in publications] and with every plan for preserving wild life and the untouched aspects of Nature. Theodore Roosevelt did admirable work in that line, and I rejoice to learn that the impetus is not declining." He became a member of the Council April 29, 1921, and he died on January 22, 1922, and was thus a member for less than a year, but his moral support did the cause much good and that good will be lasting. His interest in our National Parks led him to write, at the time that he accepted membership on the Council : " Knowing well the Yellowstone National Park, I am very glad to hear of the observations to be carried out there. My address in England is Hindleap, Forest Row, Sussex, where I observe wild life to the best of my opportunities." His interest in nature was shown many years ago by his writing at the age of 21, " The Flora of the Island of Arran," and his long interest in angling, mountain climbing and in our National Parks, are only the varied expressions of this apprecia- tive interest in nature. 224 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin Colonel Henry S. Graves It is a great pleasure to announce that Colonel Henry S. Graves has accepted membership on the Honorary Advisory Council of the Roosevelt Station. As the distinguished former Chief Forester of the United States Forest Service, that branch of the government under his leadership made great progress. Colonel Graves, as the first Director of the Yale Forest School at Yale University, has been the teacher and inspirer of the largest body of trained foresters which this country has yet produced. It was mainly under his guidance and supervision that the various constructive animal and wild life activities of the Forest Service have developed. This is particularly true of the development of grazing as a phase of forestry, the problem of predatory animal control, the Yellowstone elk problem, and the comprehensive plans for fish and game in our National Forests. The relation of wild life to the recreational uses of the forests he grasped far in advance of the times and paved the way for its unprecedented progress. The antiquated view that animals were merely a phase of protecting the forest from injury he long ago discarded, because he saw that animals are not merely an inci- dent in forestry but an aspect of forest production which is of basal economic and social value. Colonel Graves has just returned as Dean to the School of Forestry, Yale Universitv% and this assures this institution of the leadership which it has so long maintained. Gifts to the Library and Collections The former Ichthyologist of the Station Staff, Professor T. L. Hankinson, on his departure, presented to the Station nearly 200 reprints, pamphlets and books. These are a very welcome addition to the Roosevelt Wild Life Library. He also presented to the fish collection over 150 lots of fresh water fishes, a series which for comparative purposes will be very valuable. The latest contribution to our game collection is a mounted Moose head, collected by the donor, Mr. Irving D. Vann, Attorney, of Syracuse. This very appropriate addition to our game collection was taken by Mr. Vann in the Touradif River, Rimouski Count}-, Quebec, September, 1912. Contributions of the above character materially aid the progress of the Station, and the Station is grateful to the donors for these contributions. Reception of the Bulletin The first number of the Bulletin has been received so heartily throughout the State and Nation as to leave no possible chance for Current Station N^otcs 225 doubt as to the unique field and opportunity for the Roosevelt Wild Life Station. Examples of a few representative opinions are here given : 1. " This is an extraordinarily interesting and valuable publication and will be cordially appreciated by the many friends of Theodore Roosevelt." 2. " It is not merely interesting, but valuable. That it would be the latter is to be expected, but so many professional bulletins of the past have been written from the point of view of mere fact without making them human that I fear the general public has begun to dis- trust such publications. There is no reason for that feeling about Volume I, Number i." 3. " It is the work of supplying this knowledge of animal life through scientific research and experiments, a knowledge of which Mr. Roosevelt so clearly saw the necessity, that the Wild Life Experiment Station has undertaken as its chief, purpose. The first reports indicate that it has met with a gratifying success in carrying out the plans of this distinguished naturalist." Editorial, Nczv York Herald. January 30, 1922. 4. " The first Bulletin of the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experi- ment Station of the New York State College of Forestry * * * indicates that despite the handicap of its cumbrous and complicated name it is functioning successfully and with definite plans and clear promise of usefulness. * * * The main facts and principal figures in the movement so far, [are given] so that any intelligent reader may know and understand just where the Station fits in among the many Roosevelt memorial and conservation projects, just what authority and resources are behind it and just what it expects to accomplish. Colonel Roosevelt himself, as long ago as 1917, care- fully examined and cordially approved the project which has a dis- tinctive and fruitful field of its own, altogether unlike and outside of the other agencies, corporate or official. * * * Two incidents of the Bulletin are noteworthy: publication in full of the late George W. Perkins' memorable paper in 1917 to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which he demanded that the scientists should teach the world how to use and assimilate the forces, like steam and electricity, which they have discovered, and a resume of European plant and animal preservation, which make the Bulletin as a whole remarkable for range, interest and value, a striking and welcome contrast to publications of this type and bespeaking much for its future and that of its supporters." Editorial, Tlie Standard Union, Brooklyn, February 10, 1922. 5. " This Bulletin would be worth while for the collection of portraits it contains, if for no other reason, but I am especially interested in the outline of policy." 6. " It is very well gotten out and is a highly efifective document so far as the public is concerned, and will certainly be gratifying to all the friends of the Colonel." 226 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 7. " While I have not had the opportunity to read it thoroughly I have gone through it sufficiently to get the salient points, and I want to take this opportunity of expressing my interest in this memorial to the Great American. No more appropriate memorial could be devised. " I am especially interested in the plan to study the animal life. In his foreword Dr. Grinnell brings out admirably a point of which I became increasingly aware in my own work, namely, that there is a great lack of information as to the most common habits of many of our most familiar wild animals. A rather extended experience as a writer of animal stories for children has convinced me that it is the common things, the simple things pertaining to the daily lives of our woodland and meadow creatures, that are of greatest interest to the public at large. This is as true of adults as of children. Time and time again I have had letters of inquiries regarding the traits or habits of familiar animals which I could not myself answer from personal experience, and which I have been unable to find in the published works of our best authorities. The latter have been so engrossed in the scientific relations of one to another that they have either overlooked common habits or else have considered them too trivial to be of interest. It has been astonishing to me to find how often comparatively little is known of the daily lives of our most familiar creatures. Therefore I rejoice that the Roosevelt Experi- ment Station is to take up this line of work. " I note that it is proposed to assemble a library of books, photo- graphs, and publications pertaining to forest wild life. I do not see moving picture films included. [This is an oversight as provision was made for these. C. C. A.] It seems to me that somewhere in this country there should be a complete collection of all good moving picture films of American wild life which have been made or will be made. I know the American Museum has a very good collection of such films, but I also know that there are ver}' many films not pos- sessed by the x-\merican Museum or any other museum. It seems to me that every motion picture photographer should be willing to con- tribute a print from every reel he makes providing that he is assured that such reels are not being used in any way to conflict with his own use of the material. A museum of mounted specimens is of course of the utmost value to the student, and to the public at large, but of equal value it seems to me are motion pictures showing the living creature in its natural environment and concerned in the daily afTairs of life." — Thornton W. Burgess. 8. " I have just received the first issue of the Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin * * * and have taken a keen delight in reading it. What you are planning to do at the Roosevelt Wild Life Experiment Station is, to my mind, one of the most important and significant things in connection with wild life conservation of this day. So far as I know it is the only movement and effort of the kind and is, with- out the possibility of a doubt, on the right track. * * * Current Station Notes 227 " One of the statements made in the Bulletin which I was glad to note is that your activities will not be confined exclusively to New York State. There is the same lack of accurate knowledge of wild animal life everywhere." The Beaver Investigations The present number of the Bulletin is largely devoted to the results of investigations of the beaver. Although the beaver abounded in New York State in primeval days, it became almost extinct on account of the relentless trapping which was permitted. Later, when its loss became appreciated, beavers were imported into the Adi- rondacks where they have again become so abundant that they are now locally injurious. Although the beaver has been the subject of more detailed studies, and more books have been written upon this than upon any other native land mammal, yet our need for knowledge of it has grown more rapidly with the shrinkage of the wilderness by the encroach- ments of man than we have been aware. Fifty years ago we were considered relatively well informed on the beaver, while today the whole field needs recultivation by more intensive modern methods. A native of this State, Lewis H. Morgan, in 1868 published a classic monograph " The American Beaver and His Works," a book which has not yet been surpassed, and most of our knowledge of this animal has been derived from other regions than this State. Now that New York beavers demand attention investigations are needed to inform ourselves upon the natural history of this species before they can be properly protected and utilized. Dr. Johnson's report points out some of the many problems which now need immediate investigation, and much emphasis is placed upon the fact that in the absence of a proper knowfedge of them legislation is necessarily provisional and experimental in character. Laws can- not command the respect which they should merit when they rest upon an insecure foundation of fact, and the only remedy is to increase our knowledge. To make such investigations is the distinc- tive field of the Roosevelt Station, and is perhaps where it can do some of its best public service. This beaver problem raises the question as to whether or not it would be wise, during this period of provisional plans, to allow the State Conservation Commission considerable discretionary powers in their executive duties of caring for the beaver. At the 228 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin same time the scientific studies should be pushed as rapidly as pos- sible in order to clear up the most serious defects in our knowledge. In restocking the Adirondacks with beaver some were secured from Yanceys in the Yellowstone National Park, the locality at which Mr. Warren's studies were made. The beaver problem in Yellowstone Park is quite different from that in the Adirondacks, in that this Park is a wild life refuge, and the question of commercial damage does not enter into the problem. The public interest in these remarkable animals, however, is shared equally by Yellowstone and Adirondack summer visitors. The detailed results of Mr. Warren's studies will form another report which is now completed. THE ROOSEVELT WILD LIFE MEMORIAL As a State Memorial The State of New York is the trustee of this wild life Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse is a State institution supported solely by State funds, and the Roosexelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station is a part of this institution. The Trustees are State officials. A legislative mandate instructed them as follows : " To establish and conduct an experimental station to be known as ' Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station,' in which there shall be maintained records of the results of the experiments and investigations made and research work accomplished; also a library of works, publications, papers and data having to do with wild life, together with means for practical illustration and demonstration, which library shall, at all reasonable hours, be open to the public." [Laws of New York, chapter 536. Became a law May 10, 1919.] As a General Memorial While this Memorial Station was founded by New York State, its functions are not limited solely to the State. The Trustees are further authorized to cooperate with other agencies, so that the work is by no means limited to the boundaries of the State or by State funds. Provision for this has been made by the law as follows : " To enter into any contract necessary or appropriate for carrying out any of the purposes or objects of the College, including such as shall involve cooperation with any person, corporation or association or any department of the government of the State of New York or of the United States in laboratory, experimental, investigative or research work, and the acceptance from such person, corporation, association, or department of the State or Federal government of gifts or contributions of money, expert service, labor, materials, apparatus, appliances or other property in connection therewith." [Laws of New York, chapter 42. Became a law March 7, 1918.] By these laws the Empire State has made provision to conduct forest wild life research upon a comprehensive basis, and on a plan as broad as that appro\ed by Theodore Roosevelt himself. Form of Bequest to the Roosevelt Wild Life Memorial I hereby give and bequeath to the Roosevelt Wild Life Forest Experiment Station of The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse, for wild life research, library, and for publication, the sum of , or the following books, lands, etc. Map 2. Map of the eastern part of area examined in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties, northern Adirondacks, and showing beaver activities. PRESS OP B. LYOH CO. .