Identifier: allaboutanimalsf00newy (find matches)
Title: All about animals. Facts, stories and anecdotes
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Animals
Publisher: New York, McLoughlin bros
Contributing Library: Information and Library Science Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Digitizing Sponsor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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turn for more. When occupied in this way thehamster becomes so absorbed that anyone can walk up quite close to it andwatch its actions, provided no noise or sudden movement is made. As the hamsters skin is of some value, many hunters are employed to ridthe farmer of the pest, and also to supply the market with the fur. The dam-age that the hamster does to the farmer can be realized by the fact that whena burrow has been dug out, as much as sixty pounds of corn and one hundredpounds of beans have been found. It is quite a common thing for the farmerto dig out the burrows to recover stolen wares. The hamster is dull and ferocious. It will fight anything without respectto size or strength. When one has been crushed by awheel or stone, it willturn and bite it. The hamster will worry the end of a stick as if it were a liv-ing animal. When startled by any noise, the hamster has a curious habit ofsitting up on its haunches like a rabbit, and staring in the direction from whichthe sound came.
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BEAVERS AT WORK, (i/io Natural Size.) THE BEAVER. The Beaver has one of the most beautiful skins in the world. Its fur hasbecome famous in Europe and America. The beaver is also noted for itsskill as an engineer. As a rule, the beaver lives on the banks of small creeksand rivers, and to prevent the supply of water from running short, it makeswonderful dams. When an engineer wishes to dam up a stream, he usuallybegins by pile-driving; but this little animal-engineer goes at it another way.It lays the logs (which are from six to fifteen inches thick, and from two to sixfeet long) flat on the bed of the stream, and then heaps stones and mud uponthem to keep them down. Gradually a dam rises out of the water. So cleverare the beavers that they make the wall of the dam round if the current is veryswift, so that the water cannot bear too much strain on one spot. If the wateris sluggish, the dam is built straight across the stream. The skilful engineer-ing of the beaver is displayed best when

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