Although mainly nocturnal, the animals are active early in the morning and late in the afternoon, as well as throughout dark days. Those kept in captivity would show periods of restless activity at night and have alternating periods of sleep and wakefulness during the day. Sometimes they would sleep coiled with the head turned under the body and again flat on their backs. During these periods their sleep is often so profound that they may be handled without being awakened.
One captive animal is reported to have uttered a curious quavering note resembling that of a screech-owl. They have a strong musky odor, which is very evident when they are first caught, and which is frequently apparent about the burrows.
Careful and repeated efforts to keep these animals in captivity under as near normal conditions as possible in regard to food and surroundings in the vicinity of where they were captured have, up to the present time, resulted in failure. In every case the animals failed to thrive and soon died.
The mating occurs about the middle of March, and a month later litters of two or three young are born. The young grow slowly, not attaining full size for a year or more, and do not breed until the second year, but they leave the shelter of the home nest and scatter to occupy burrows of their own at the end of the first two or three months.
The mountain-beaver feeds upon nearly all small vegetation growing in its haunts, including, in addition to small herbage, shrubs, the bark of trees and bushes, ferns, and fern roots. More than thirty species of native plants have been found among its “hay” piles at the mouths of burrows. Since its country has become increasingly occupied by farmers, it has developed a fondness for cultivated crops that, in many places, is rendering it a pest. It appears to have a special taste for cabbage, potato, and onion tops, and other garden produce.
When gathering its food it sits up squirrel-like and grasps the plant stem with one hand, a long projecting tubercle on the “heel” of the hand opposing the fingers like a thumb and giving a good grasp, so that it can pull plants down to be bitten off with the sharp front teeth. Sometimes it climbs up a few feet into a bush or small branching tree after succulent shoots.
The mountain-beaver has the interesting habit of gathering stores of green plant food much like that of the cony on the mountain tops, but appears to be more methodical in its ways, gathering the stems of such plants as grasses, ferns, and lupins, as well as twigs of various bushes and carrying them in bundles as large as can be held in the mouth, the butts of the stems neatly laid together. These little bundles of “hay” are placed side by side about the entrances of the burrows, with the butts all parallel on sticks or other support to keep them as clear as possible from the ground. They are left thus for a day or more to cure before being carried into the subterranean store-rooms.
Chief among the four-footed enemies of the mountain-beaver are the fisher and bobcat, and an eagle has been seen keeping close watch at the entrance of their burrows.
THE COMMON WOODCHUCK, OR AMERICAN MARMOT (Marmota monax and its relatives)
(For illustration, [see page 534])