USA > Vermont > History of Vermont, natural, civil, and statistical, in three parts, with a new map of the state, and 200 engravings > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
The weight of a full grown catamount is usually about 100 pounds. One of the largest taken in this State, to my knowl- edge, was killed in Roxbury, in Decem- ber, 1821. It measured 7 fect from the nose to the extremity of the tail, and weighed 118 pounds. Under the name of panther, our legislature give a bounty of $20 each for the destruction of this ani- mal within the state.
THE COMMON SEAL. Phoca vitulina .- LINNEUS.
But what ! exclaims one, the Seal in Vermont-that inland mountain state ?
| Be not surprised, kind reader. It is even so, and there are living witnesses of the fact. While several persons were ska- ting upon the ice on lake Champlain, a little south of Burlington, in February, 1810, they discovered a living seal in a wild state, which had found its way through a erack and was crawling upon the ice. They took off their skates, with which they attacked and killed it, and then drew it to the shore. It is said to have been 44 feet long. It must have reached our lake by way of the St. Law- rence and Richelieu ; but it was not as- certained whether the poor (fat) wander- er had lost his way, or having taken a miff at society, was seeking voluntary retire- ment from the world-of scals.
ORDER RODENTIA .- Cuvier.
This is the same as the order Glires of Linnæus, and embraces those animals, whose teeth are fitted for gnawing. They have two large incisors in each jaw, sep- urated from the grinders by a vacant space. No canine teeth. The grinders in some of the genera have flat or ridged crowns, and in others blunt tubereles. Under jaw articulated by a longitudinal condyle ; stomach simple ; intestines long ; cæcum large ; mammæ variable in number. They feed generally on vegetables, but the species with tuberculated grinders are nearly omnivorous.
GENUS CASTOR .- Linnaeus.
Generic Characters .- Teeth, 20-incis- ors &, no canines, grinders, 4-4. Incisors, very strong, smooth on the outside, and angular within ; grinders have a fold on the internal edge, and three similar folds on the outer edge of the upper teeth, which are inverted in the lower ones. Eyes, small; ears, short and round ; feet, five toed ; fore feet short ; hind feet longer and pal- mated ; tail, large, flat, and scaly ; a pouch near the root of the tail in the male filled with an unc- tuous, odoriferous secretion.
THE BEAVER. Castor fiber .- LINNAEUS.
DESCRIPTION .- Fur dense, consisting of two sorts, one coarse, long, and of a chestnut, or reddish brown color, the oth-
* Vol. 1, p. 301. t Griff. Part V, p. 438.
39
QUADRUPEDS OF VERMONT.
CHAP. 2.
THE BEAVER.
THE BEAVER.
er shorter, very fine and of smoky or sil- very gray ; head flattened ; nose short and thick ; eyes small ; ears short, thick, rounded and covered with short fur ; neck short ; body thick ; back arched ; tail flat and broad horizontally, oval and covered with oval angular seales ; fore legs very short and small ; and the fore feet are us- ed as hands for conveying food to the mouth ; hind feet with long, hard and callons soles, and long toes connected by a web. The usual length of the beaver from the nose to the origin of the tail, is from 30 to 40 inches, and the tail about 1 1 inches long and 6 broad at the widest part. The usual weight of a full grown Beaver is stated by Dr. Richardson to be about twenty-four pounds.
HisroRY .- The beaver, though former- ly a very common animal in Vermont, is probably now nearly or quite extermina- ted, none of them having been killed within the state, to my knowledge, for several years. The last, of which I have any account, was killed, in Essex county, 12 years ago .* The vestiges of its la- bors are, however, still found in " the beaver meadows" in all parts of the coun- try. The peculiarities in the forin of the beaver, and especially the remarkable in- stinet, which guides him in the construe- tion of his dwelling, have always render- ed him an object of admiration, and ma- ny accounts of him have been published, most of which abounded in exaggeration and fable. The following account by Hearne, who studied the habits of this an- imal for 20 years, in the fur countries around Hudson's Bay, is pronounced by Dr. Richardson,* who, himself, had the best opportunity for ascertaining its truth, to be the most correct and free from ex- aggeration, which has ever been publish- ed.
" Where beavers are numerous, they construet their habitations upon the banks of lakes, ponds, rivers, and small streams; but when they are at liberty to choose, they always select places where there is sufficient current to facilitate the transportation of wood and other necessa- ries to their dwellings, and where the water is so deep as not to be frozen to the bottom during the winter. The beav- ers that build their houses in small riv- ers and creeks, in which water is liable to be drained off, when the back supplies are dried up by the frost, are wonderfully taught by instinct, to provide against that evil, by making a dam quite across the stream, at a convenient distance from
their houses. The beaver dams differ in shape, according to the nature of the place in which they are built. If the wa- ter in the stream have but little motion, the dam is almost straight ; but when the current is more rapid, it is always made with a considerable curve convex tow- ards the stream. The materials made use of, are drift-wood, green willows, birch and poplars, if they can be got; al- so mud and stones, intermixed in such a manner, as must evidently contribute to the strength of the dam; but there is no order or method observed in the dams ex- cept that of the work being carried on with a regular sweep, and all the party being made of equal strength. In places which have been long frequented by beav- ers undisturbed, their dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice ; and as the willow, poplar and birch, generally take root and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of regular planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall that birds have built their nests among the branches.
"The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as their dams, and are al- ways proportioned in size to the number of inhabitants, which seldom exceeds four old and six or eight young ones ; though, by chance, I have seen above double that number. Instead of order or regulation being observed in rearing their houses, they are of much ruder structure than their dams; for, notwithstanding the sa- gacity of these animals, it has never been observed that they aim at any other con- venience in their houses, than to have a dry place to lie on ; and there they usu- ally eat their victuals, which they occa- sionally take out of the water. It fre- quently happens that some of the large houses are found to have one or more partitions, if they deserve the appellation; but it is no more than a part of the main building, left by the sagacity of the beav- er to support the roof. On such occa- sions, it is common for those different apartments, as some are pleased to eall them, to have no communication with each other but by water ; so that, in fact, they may be called double or treble hous- es, rather than different apartments of the same house. I have seen a beaver- house built in a small island, that had near a dozen different apartments under one roof; and, two or three of these only excepted, none of them had any commu- nication with each other but by water. As there were beavers enough to inhabit each apartment, it is more than probable that each family knew their own, and al-
. Letter of the Hon, J. Parker, of Orleans, to the Author, Sept, 27, 181 !.
t Fauna Boreali Americana, Part 1. page 108.
40
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
THE BEAVER.
THE BEAVER.
ways entered at their own doors, without any further connection with their neigh- bors than a friendly intercourse, and to join their united labors in erecting their separate habitations, and building their dams where required. Travellers, who assert that beavers have two doors to their houses, one on the landside, and the other next the water, seem to be less ac- quainted with these animals than others, who assign them an elegant suite of apart- ments. Such a construction would ren- der their houses of no use, either to pro- tect them from the attacks of their en emies, or guard them against extreme cold weather.
" So far are beavers from driving stakes into the ground, when building their houses, that they lay most of the wood crosswise, and nearly horizontal, and without any other order than that of leav- ing a hollow, or cavity in the middle ; when any unnecessary branches project inward, they cut them off with their teeth, and throw them in among the rest, to pre- vent the mud from falling through the roof. It is a mistaken notion, that the wood work is first completed and then plastered; for the whole of their houses as well as their dams, are, from the foundation, one mass of mud and wood, mixed with stones, if they can be procured. The mind is always taken from the edge of the bank, or the bottom of the creek or pond, near the door of the house ; and, though their fore paws are small, yet it is held so close up between them under their throat, that they carry both mud and stones, while they always drag the wood with their teeth. All their work is executed in the night ; and they aie so expeditious, that in the course of one night I have known them to have collected as much mud as amounted to some thousands of their little handfuls. It is the great policy in these animals to cover the outside of their houses every fall with fresh mud, and as late as possi- ble in the autumn, even when the frosts become pretty severe, as by this means it soon freezes as hard as a stone, and pre- vents their common enemy, the wolver- ene, from disturbing them during the winter. And as they are frequently seen to walk over their work, and sometimes to give a flap with their tail, particularly when plunging into the water, this with- ont doubt, has given rise to the vulgar opinion that they use their tails as a trow- el, with which they plaster their houses ; whereas that flapping of the tail is no more than a custom, which they always preserve, even when they become tame and domestic, and more particularly so when they are startled "
Judge Parker, who has devoted consid- erable attention to the habits of our native quadrupeds, after confirming the above statement of llearne, in relation to the structure of the dams and houses of the beaver, observes : " I have thought the correct judgment exercised by the beaver in the selection of the place for his damn, to be the most remarkable part of his character. The choice seems to be made with reference to the plenty of timber suitable for his food, and the proportion, which the space to be overflowed bears to the length of the dam ; and with regard to these, they seem to judge as correctly as man. So far as they have fallen under my own observation, I have always found them at the very best places, which could be selected on the whole stream. One chief object of their pond seems to be, to float timber, which is to serve them for food, to their dwellings ; and where the water does not prove deep enough for that pur- pose, they deepen it by digging a trench along the bottom, and cutting off the logs which lie in their way, with their teeth. 1 have seen logs 20 inches in diameter, which had been thus cut off and remov- ed."*
Their food during the winter consists principally of the root of the pond lily, Nuphar luteum, which they find in the water beneath the ice. They also feed upon the bark of the poplar, birch and willow, which they cut down in the fall and drag into the water opposite the doors of their houses, as a part of their supply for the winter. In the summer they rove abont, feeding upon different kinds of herbage and berries, and do not return to repair their houses and lay in their winter stock of wood till towards fall. When they are to erect a new habitation, they fell the timber for it in the spring, but do not begin to build till August, and never complete it till cold weather sets in.
The beaver is a cleanly animal, never allowing any excrement or filth within its lodge. They are said to pair in Feb- ruary and bring forth their young in the latter part of May, producing from four to eight at a litter. Beavers seldom cut down trees which exceed 5 or 6 inches in diameter, and they always leave the top of the stump in the form of a cone. They gnaw all round the tree, but direct its fall by cutting one side higher than the other. The weight of a full grown beav- er does not often exceed 30 pounds, though, according to Dr. Williams, they have taken in Vermont weighing from 40 to 60 pounds.i
+ Letter to the Author.
¡ His. of Vermont, Vol. I. p. 121.
CHAP. 2.
QUADRUPEDS OF VERMONT.
THE MUSK-RAT.
THE: MEADOW MOUSE.
GENUS FIBER .- Curier.
Generic Characters .-- Teeth, 16 -- Incisors 3, no canines, grimlers 3-3. Lower incisors sharp pointed and convex in front ; grinders with flat crowns, furnished with scaly, transverse zig- zag lamint ; four toes, with the rudiments of a fifth, on the fore feet ; five tees on the hind feet. having the edges furnished with stiff hairs, used in swimming, like the membrane of palmated feet; lail long, compressed laterally; both sexes secrete an odoriferous, musky unguent,
THE MUSK RAT. Fiber zibethicus .- DESM.
DESCRIPTION .- General color, yellow- ish, or reddish brown, lighter beneath ; body thick and flattish, with a short head and indistinct neck ; incisory teeth very large; lips covered with coarse hair ; nose short; eyes small and lateral, and partly concealed by the hair ; ears low, oblong, covered with hair and inconspicuous ; tail nearly as long as the body, flattened later- ally, and covered with small brown scales, interspersed with short black hairs ; legs and feet covered with short, brown shin- ing hair ; toes 5 on each foot ; thumbs very small ; claws strong and sharp ; a brown spot beneath the tip of the under jaw. Length of the specinien before nie, from the nose to the origin of the tail 13 inches; tail 93 inches ; weight 33 pounds.
HISTORY .- Musk Rats, or Musquashes, as they are often called, have a strong smell of musk, 'particularly the males. Their for is used in the manufacture of hats, and great numbers of their skins are shipped to Europe. Dr. Richardson unforms us that from four to five hundred thousand are annually imported from North America into Great Britain. Musk Rats were very numerous in Vermont when the country was new, and their skins afforded to the carly settlers an im- portant article of export. Although now much diminished, they are still found in considerable numbers, inhabiting the banks of our larger streams.
In its aquatic and nocturnal habits, as well as in its appearance and the mode of constructing its dwelling, the Musk-ratis closely allied to the beaver. Like the beaver he is an excellent swimmer, dives well and remains for a considerable time under water. It is only in low swampy situations that the Mus! - rat resorts to the construction of habitations above ground
These are made principally of mud mixed with grass, and in the form of a dome, with a warm bed of leaves and grass within. The only place ofenfrance is from beneath, and from this there are usually several subterranean passages leading in different directions. When ice forms over the sur- face of the swamp, they make breathing holes through it, which they sometimes protect from frost by a covering of mud. When disturbed in their dwellings, the Musk-rats retreat through their subter- ranean passages. They feed principally upon the roots and bark of aquatic plants, but do not, like the beaver, lay in a store of provisions for the winter.
During the winter several families of Musk-rats usually reside together. But when warm weather approaches, they de- sert their honse, and during the summer live in pairs and rear their young, of which they have from three to six at a litter. They are very watchful and shy, seldom venturing abroad during the day time, and hence they are very seldom seen, even in nighhorhoods where they are known to abound. They run badly upon the land, but swim with facility and dive instantly on perceiving the flash of a gun, usually giving a smart blow upon the water, with the tail, in the act of diving. They are usually taken in steel-traps. The skins are of little value, seldom bringing more than 17 cts. and often less than 10 cents.
GENES ARVICOLA.
Generic Characters .- Teeth 16-Incis- ors 3, no canines, grinders 3-3. The grinders are flat on the crowns, and marked with zigzag lines of enamel. Four toes and the rudiments of a fifth on the fore feet ; on the hind feet five toes ; loes furnished with weak nails, but neither palna- ted nor furnished with hairs on their borders ; ears large ; tail round, hairy, and nearly as long as the body.
THE MEADOW MOUSE. Articola riparius .- ORD.
DESCRIPTION .- General color above grayish brown, resulting from the fur, being plumbeous at the base, and tip- ped with gray and reddish brown; be- neath light yellowish lead color ; head rather large ; ears broad, short, and slight+ ly covered with hair on both sides to- wards the margin, opening large and ap- parent ; eyes moderately large, black and unconcealed ; whiskers few and blackish; tail short and sparsely covered with short stiff' hairs; legs and feet slender ; toes, four, with a rudiment of a fifth on the fore feet, the second toe longest and the enter shortest ; five toes behind, the
Pr. 1.
-
42
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
THE MEADOW MOUSE.
THE NORWAY OR BROWN HAT.
three middle ones nearly equal. Length of the specimen from which the above de- scription was made, 5 inches; tail 2 in- ches.
History .- We have doubtless as many as two or three species belonging to this genus, but they have not been sufficient- ly examined to enable me to speak with confidence respecting them. Meadow miec are quite comumnon in most parts of the state, and at times they become so greatly multiplied as to do much injury to the meadows and to the stacks of hay and grain. They have their burrows in the banks of streams, and under old stumps, logs and fences ; and in neighbor- hoods where they are plenty, numerous furrows may be seen along the roots of the grass, forming Janes in which they may travel in various directions from their burrows. Their nests are some- tines constructed in their burrows, and are also found at the season of hay har- vest, in great numbers, among the vege- tation upon the surface of the ground. They are built of coarse straw, lined with fine soft leaves, somewhat in the manner of a bird's nest, with this difference, that they are covered at the top, and the pas- sage into them is from beneath. These nests frequently contain 6 or 8 young ones: The meadow mice, though very prolific, have many enemies which serve in a measure to check their undue multiplication. Large numbers of them are destroyed by owls, hawks, foxes, cats, &c., and the country people, when at la- bor in the field, are vigilant in putting them to death.
GENUS MUS .- Linnaus.
Generic Characters .- Tecth 16-Incis- ors &, no canines, grinders 3.3. 3-3. The grinders are furnished with blunt tubercles. Destitule of cheek pouches; fore feet with four toes, and a wart in the place of a thumb, covered with an ob- tuse nail; hind feet with five toes ; nails long, sharp, and incurved ; tail long, tapering, naked, and scaly ; some part of the hair of the body lon- ger and stiffer than the rest; ears oblong, or round.
THIE NORWAY RAT. Mus decumanus .- PALL.
and slightly curved ; whiskers of unequal length, partly black and partly white. Total length of the specimens before me, which is a female, from the snout to the tip of the tail, 16 inches; head 1.8; body 7.5; tail 6.7. Six pectoral and six ven- tral mamma.
HISTORY .- This rat, which is at pres- ent the common rat of the United States, is supposed to have been originally a na- tive of Persia, or India, and was first known in Europe in the early part of the leth century. It was carried to Eng- land, about the year 1750, in the timber ships from Norway, and from this cir- cunistance it received the name of Nor- way Rat. From Europe it was brought over to America, about the commence- ment of the American Revolution, and is now diffused over the greater part of the continent. The Norway, or, as often call- cd, the Brown rat is very prolific, bringing forth from 10 to 16 at a hitter, and but for its numerous enemies, and its own rapa- cious disposition, it wouhl soon become an intolerable pest. Happily, however, for man, they are not only destroyed by weasels, cats, and dogs, but they are very destructive enemies to one another, both in the young and adult state. They are sometimes caught in traps, but on account of their cantion and cunning it requires much art. The surest way of destroying them is by poison, and arsenic is com- monly used for that purpose, but so many fatal accidents occur from having this pois- on about our buildings, that its use is not to be recommended. If poison is to be used for the destruction of rats, the pow- der of nux vomica, mixed with meal and scented with oil of rhodium, should be em- ployed, and it is found very effectual for that purpose. The brown rat is a deadly enemy to the black rat, and destroys it, or drives it from the neighborhood. It also destroys mice. But it does not confine itself to the destruction of noxious ani- mals. It often devours eggs, chickens, and the young of other domestic fowls. It however becomes the greatest nuisance and does most mischief by the destruc- tion of grain, fruit, roots &c. in our gra- naries and cellars. The graphic charac- ter given it by Dr. Godman will not be disputed by any who are acquainted with its habits. " It must be confessed," says the Doctor, " that this rat is one of the veriest scoundrels in the brute creation, though it is a misfortune in him rather than a fault, since he acts solely in obe- dience to the impulses of nature, is guid- ed by no other law than his own will, and submits to no restraints, but such as are
DESCRIPTION .-- General color, light red- dish; brown intermingled with ash, light- er and grayish beneath; feet pale flesh colored, and nearly naked ; tail nearly as long as the body, covered with small ilus- ky scales, with short stiff hairs thinly scattered among them; four toes and i small tubercle in place ofa thumb before, five behind ; nails swall, light horn color, fimposed by force. Hle is, therefore, by
43
QUADRUPEDS OF VERMONT.
CHAP. 2.
THE BLACK RAT.
THE COMMON MOUSE.
no means as bad as the scoundreis of a higher order of beings, who, endowed with superior powers of intelligence, and enjoying the advantages of education, do still act as if they possessed all the vil- lainous qualities of the rat, without being able to offer a similar apology for their conduct. Among quadrupeds this rat may be considered as occupying the same rank as the crow does among birds. lle is one of the most impudent, troublesome, mischievous, wicked wretches that ev- er infested the habitations of man. To the most wily cunning he adds a fierceness and malignity of disposition that frequent- ly renders him a dangerous enemy, and a destroyer of every living creature he can master. He is a pure thief, stealing not only articles of food, for which his hun- ger would be a sufficient justification, but substances which can be of no possible utility to him. When he gains access to a library he does not hesitate to translate and appropriate to his own use the works of the most learned authors, and is not so readily detected as some of his brother pi- rates of the human kind, since he does not carry off his prize entire, but cuts it into pieces before he conveys it to his den. He is, in short, possessed of no one quality to save him from being universal- ly despised, and his character inspires no stronger feeling than contempt, even in those who are under the necessity of put- ting him to death."*
THE BLACK RAT. Mus rattus .- LINN.
DESCRIPTION .- Head elongated ; snout pointed ; lower jaw very short; eyes large and projecting ; cars naked, large, broad and nearly ovate ; whiskers long ; five flat toes on the hind feet, and on the fore feet four, with a nail representing a thumb ; lateral nails, both behind and be- fore, very short; teil nearly naked, and furnished with scales disposed in rings, amounting in some cases to 250; color cinerous black, lighter beneath ; whiskers Hack ; top of the feet covered with small white hairs ; mamme 12. Length of the head and body ? inches, tail 7.5 inches.
History .- It seems to be a matter of some doubt whether this Rat is indige- nous in this country or was introduced from Europe. But whethe introduced, or indigneous, it is certain that they were very numerous here before the introduc- tion of the preceding species. It is stated by Dr. Williamst that neither the Norway rat, nor the Black rat, was known in Ver- 1
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.