Captain Bonneville, however, discredits, on the whole, the alleged sagacity of thebeaver in this particular, and thinks the animal has no other aim than to get the treedown, without any of the subtle calculation as to its mode or direction of falling. Thisattribute, he thinks, has been ascribed to them from the circumstance that most treesgrowing near water-courses, either lean bodily toward the stream, or stretch theirlargest limbs in that direction, to benefit by the space, the light, and the air to be foundthere. The beaver, of course, attacks those trees which are nearest at hand, and on thebanks of the stream or pond. He makes incisions round them, or in technical phrase,belts them with his teeth, and when they fall, they naturally take the direction in whichtheir trunks or branches preponderate.
"I have often," says Captain Bonneville, "seen trees measuring eighteen inches indiameter, at the places where they had been cut through by the beaver, but they lay inall directions, and often very inconveniently for the after purposes of the animal. In fact,so little ingenuity do they at times display in this particular, that at one of our camps onSnake River, a beaver was found with his head wedged into the cut which he hadmade, the tree having fallen upon him and held him prisoner until he died."Great choice, according to the captain, is certainly displayed by the beaver in selectingthe wood which is to furnish bark for winter provision. The whole beaver household, oldand young, set out upon this business, and will often make long journeys before theyare suited. Sometimes they cut down trees of the largest size and then cull thebranches, the bark of which is most to their taste. These they cut into lengths of aboutthree feet, convey them to the water, and float them to their lodges, where they arestored away for winter. They are studious of cleanliness and comfort in their lodges,and after their repasts, will carry out the sticks from which they have eaten the bark,and throw them into the current beyond the barrier. They are jealous, too, of theirterritories, and extremely pugnacious, never permitting a strange beaver to enter theirpremises, and often fighting with such virulence as almost to tear each other to pieces.
In the spring, which is the breeding season, the male leaves the female at home, andsets off on a tour of pleasure, rambling often to a great distance, recreating himself inevery clear and quiet expanse of water on his way, and climbing the banks occasionallyto feast upon the tender sprouts of the young willows. As summer advances, he givesup his bachelor rambles, and bethinking himself of housekeeping duties, returns hometo his mate and his new progeny, and marshals them all for the foraging expedition inquest of winter provisions.
After having shown the public spirit of this praiseworthy little animal as a member of acommunity, and his amiable and exemplary conduct as the father of a family, we grieveto record the perils with which he is environed, and the snares set for him and hispainstaking household.
Practice, says Captain Bonneville, has given such a quickness of eye to theexperienced trapper in all that relates to his pursuit, that he can detect the slightestsign of beaver, however wild; and although the lodge may be concealed by closethickets and overhanging willows, he can generally, at a single glance, make anaccurate guess at the number of its inmates. He now goes to work to set his trap;planting it upon the shore, in some chosen place, two or three inches below the surfaceof the water, and secures it by a chain to a pole set deep in the mud. A small twig isthen stripped of its bark, and one end is dipped in the "medicine," as the trappers termthe peculiar bait which they employ. This end of the stick rises about four inches abovethe surface of the water, the other end is planted between the jaws of the trap. Thebeaver, possessing an acute sense of smell, is soon attracted by the odor of the bait.
As he raises his nose toward it, his foot is caught in the trap. In his fright he throws asomerset into the deep water. The trap, being fastened to the pole, resists all his effortsto drag it to the shore; the chain by which it is fastened defies his teeth; he struggles fora time, and at length sinks to the bottom and is drowned.
Upon rocky bottoms, where it is not possible to plant the pole, it is thrown into thestream. The beaver, when entrapped, often gets fastened by the chain to sunken logsor floating timber; if he gets to shore, he is entangled in the thickets of brook willows. Insuch cases, however, it costs the trapper diligent search, and sometimes a bout atswimming, before he finds his game.
Occasionally it happens that several members of a beaver family are trapped insuccession. The survivors then become extremely shy, and can scarcely be "brought tomedicine," to use the trapper's phrase for "taking the bait." In such case, the trappergives up the use of the bait, and conceals his traps in the usual paths and crossingplaces of the household. The beaver now being completely "up to trap," approachesthem cautiously, and springs them ingeniously with a stick. At other times, he turns thetraps bottom upwards, by the same means, and occasionally even drags them to thebarrier and conceals them in the mud. The trapper now gives up the contest ofingenuity, and shouldering his traps, marches off, admitting that he is not yet "up tobeaver."
On the day following Captain Bonneville's supervision of the industrious and frolicsomecommunity of beavers, of which he has given so edifying an account, he succeeded inextricating himself from the Wind River Mountains, and regaining the plain to theeastward, made a great bend to the south, so as to go round the bases of themountains, and arrived without further incident of importance, at the old place ofrendezvous in Green River valley, on the 17th of September.
He found the caches, in which he had deposited his superfluous goods andequipments, all safe, and having opened and taken from them the necessary supplies,he closed them again; taking care to obliterate all traces that might betray them to thekeen eyes of Indian marauders. [Return to Contents].
