THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2293, 10 February 1898, Page 48

THE NATURALIST.

The Preservation of the Bearer in Korway.

Had not the use of its hair in the manufacture of hats been superseded by that of silk, there is^ little doubt that tbe beaver, both in the oIH world and in America, would by this time have been numbered among extinct animals'. As it is, the creature has but a hard time of it at be3t, for although there is no longer a demand for its hair by tbe hat manufacturer, yet beaver fur is an article highly valued by the furrier, and equally highly esteemed by the fair sex. Although a few survive in the Rhone and the Rhine, while more numerous colonies are found in parts of Russia, the beaver has been practically swept away" from most European countries, though place names frequently bear testimony to its former presence. Amoag the countries where it still znaiatains a foothold is Norway, one of late years lictle information has been forthcoming as to tbe approximate number of beivtr in the country or their mode of life.

The' Norwegian beavsr began to decrease in numbers from the early part? or middle of the last century, and by 1800 had already disappeared from mc&fc parts of the country, with the exception of the northern districts of Finmark and Nordland and the southern province of Necenas, or Csmsbiausand. The work of extermination went on more or less rapidly till the year 1845, when it was somewhat checked by the enactment of protective statutes ; but either these could cot have worked very effectually or the war of extermination had been only- too well carried ont, tor in 1880 the number of individuals surviving throughout the country waa estimated at ODly about three score. Three yearb later the number of head was put down roughly at 100, and since that date it is probable that the number has been fully maintained, if, iudeed, it has not actually increased.

The statutes which have been enacted for the preservation of the beaver ia No? way are not, "for the most part, of a very effectual nature, and have a decidedly feudatory smsck. Ths statute of 1845 provided that no beaver at all should be killed for ten years, and then only by the proprietors of the estates on which they were found. This was admirable as far as it went, bat as from the beginning of 1856 proprietors were again allowed to kill, without either restriction as to time or number, is is obvious that the good results of the first enactment might very well have been speedily lost. Probably this was found to be the case, as in 1863 a fresh statute was propounded, establishing a close time and fixing a limitation in number. According to this statute, beaver were only allowed to be killed during the months of August, September, and October, and then oely by owners of estates, who were permitted to kill but one individual annually on each separate estate. Two much more effect ual statutes h&v*?, however, recently coma into operation : the one, dated August 31, 189 i. protecting all the beavers in the Arat of Sondre Bargeahus till the end of 1904, and fb.3 other, dated S--p-tember 3, 1895, doing the same for the colony of Aamli till the end of 1905. The pbuelr.y for illegally killing beaver is a fine of 80 kronors (about £4 10a), which can be inflicted on all the participators ia the offence.

Burrows are the first ref ages' formed by the beavsr when taking possession of a fresh spot, and they may accordiagly ba likened to the mdc sheds erected by woikcnen employed in building a mansion. Probably each lodge is tenanted only by a single C3u/ile and their yonng family ; the youtsg bsavets, when able to do without parental assidtance, either settling down temporarily in barrows in the immediate neighbourhood or wandering away to found new colonies. Small lodges constructed in a kind o£ jerry-building fashion appear to be run up by bachelor beavera who have not yet ventured to take upon themselves the responsibilities of a wife and family. There may, howover, be also spinster beavers to whom such accommodation is also necessary — it is to be hoped only temporarily. Dams are construct qd where beavers have quartered themselves oy the sides of gentlyflowing streamlets, or small posts through which a current runs, in order to obtain water of sufficient depth and maintaining a constant level. The " bund " is substantially built and difficult to demolish. Ono examined in 1895 wa3 constructed at the outflow of a email stream through a forest maroh ; and where there was formerly but a Bmall shallow pool, a pond or lake of some few hundred yards in diameter soon resulted from the labouis of these indefatigable rodents. The "bund," which was about 15ft in length, with a cross section of some 2ft, was entirely made in the course of three weeks during the summer of. 1880. In

Canada, when tbe dam is sufficiently stoufc, the pool will eventually silt up and form a " beaver-meadow," bud Mr Oolletfc does not record any of these " meadows " in Norway. Daring the cold winter month* tho beavers, although not hibernating in the proper sense of the term, pass what appears a somewhat dull existence in the central chamber of the lodge, the roof of whioh for most of the time is buried in snow. Sometimes, however, when the weather is mild for the season, and an unusually cold autumn prevented the completion of the annual repairs at the proper time, the beaver will venture out from their retirement for a shorfc period in order to remedy such dilapidations as stand in urgent need eff immediate attention. When they have been engaged on euch works their footprints are visible in the snow. Immediately after ths breaking-up of the ice n spring the animals issue forth to procure a fresh supply of food and resume their daily avocations.

The young beavers are born ia April or May, three baing apparently a common number in a litter. At first their eyes are closed, but they grow rapidly, and by September or October are about the ssza of a eat. When able to shift for themselves they leave the parental lodge and frequently start off to i'ound a family in some fresh locality, although sometimes they set off on their wanderings alone. Following the courses of small stream?, they frequently tack straight across the open mountain slopes for na^ny miles, so that one or more not unfrequeutly make their appearance in valleys where none have been known for years. They will even occasionally cross email arms of the sea, and the perils of the journey end in death to no inconsiderable number. Several old-l-ims superstitions still cling round the beavsr. Oae of tho most persistent and most incorrect is that* the fiat scaly tail is employed as a trowel fcr plastering down the mud during building oporationF. Another is that the secretion of the tail glands — the castoreum of the old pharmacoj osa — has the property of frightening away whales or porpoises when approaching a boat I Still more strange is thß old idea that some individuals were compelled to lie on their backs and be laden with building materials, when they were dragged by their oompanioas to the scene of operations. Probably this fable originated from the circumstance that many individuals have the hair worn off the back from constantly passing up and down the narrow burrow or entrance to a lodge. — R. Lydbkkeb, B.A. Cantab., F.RS,, in Knowledge.