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Show ' THE SENTINEL Bluff dale's Chuck Ledbetter ... PiO 5 Thursday, Jan. 28, 1982 to form an ice pond out of . the stream of water J running through the pens, most of the beavers sit outside of their houses, in clusters of two or . chuck Ledbetter, beavers, raised for their three, staring manager of the county's pelts, live out their inquisitively at passers- - . oniy beaver farm sajd year lives in the litUe by. farm now holds community. to According the aD0Ut 400 beavers, but Even though the animals ' Ledbetter, can support up to 500. The weather is frigid enough don't mind the cold at all, . and still carry on their daily rituals of damming up the stream water with ') Someone who gives a dam ... about beavers From a distance they look like houses long with only remnants of cinderblock foundations, jutting out of the ground a few feet Foundations mark the boundaries of where single strips of tiny rooms might have stood, row after row across the field. To add to the feeling of solitude, there are few sounds. The silence is broken only by an He about three feet deep and boasts a front parlor, a back bedroom and a veranda with a private stream for the small groups of beavers. . the occasional muffled distant voice of tower other through loud speakers at the prison e about a away. A dozen or so sheep wander through the rows of (V JR i ' ' tr ft .1 mi ill fik-i- n v .c w p .v. Beavers stare inquisitively at visitors, not a common sight in the near Bluffdale. 1 'vr mb at m 1 mum 400-beav- community er wif im cinderblock, occasionally reaching down to nip at a stalk of grass. Aialsln'ft Vaii 1TVUIUII ,k ffiiAee IVU tar until you walk right up to the cinderblock that over a hundred families of beavers live on this deserted-looking farm on the east side of Bluffdale. Each small room is about five feet square and v I ( half-mil- I 'v t . '' f . i ') are their aspens favorites, but they'll S.l settle for willow and elm v branches in a pinch. Ledbetter goes through vi truck , about two pick-uloads daily to feed the guards talking to each o that branches Ledbetter feeds them. The beavers in each pen are fed about two a branches day. Cottonwood trees, fruit trees, and quaking - p ' Ua otmire rKar haaiiAM v the biggest part of the job is hauling trees, mainly from residents who've trimmed their own trees. ..'J Ledbetter uses a nearby natural lake for the small stream that 1 flows through each row of Chuck Ledbetter ioins the beavers in their pen. He has been pens. During the colder 0 : mnnthe a rhanna frnm his munuis, tu. uie su coin u ,itk tka . mo oanimale fnr ainht WUimiU wiiii wiy.i. iiiviii, about three to four inches ' cattle days. m S?-- i. m " "Vmi Lf m I r it will rise as high as a foot or two. I tie animals lose their day's work of makeshift dams during the daily cleaning and draining of the pens. After the beavers eat the bark off of the branches and whittle the ends to a point, the result is a large pile of smooth, white logs. "Good for firewood," Ledbetter mentioned. Ledbetter explained that the goal of raising beavers is to get the best quality of color and grade. He breeds for pure Safeway Quslity h Tropiccl Fruit r 1 A colors of black, brown, '' and silver. Ledbetter's prize ' beaver is a silver, the ' only pure silver beaver on the farm. He has ' several with a silverish ' brown pelt, but states that a pure silver color is ' hard to produce. The beavers have a ' variety of dispositions, ' says Ledbetter. Some are quiet most of the time, ' some are more curious, and others will splash and make a lot of commotion ' when he walks up to their pens. Although the beavers ' ?Dlffl8$p8 isigifagi8 Fresh Tcngy Sweet Ftaver Of The Tropics are lb. i-- t, Utm Sit ' tSf gentle, usually ' Ledbetter says that when threatened, their bite can be painful. Grabbing the tail of the beaver is the best way to control it. Beavers live in family U units, offspring often miil vui staying with their parents until they are over a year old. A female will have one litter a year in the spring and will produce one to six offspring. Small pieces of tape on the back of each pen let Ledbetter know the number and age of the beavers in each. A blue piece represents a pair of Take 5 nil Ramon Delight Stiff CMckRf Sbrimp Ctioiv f.loin Manor House Frozen 10 to 22 Pounds sen Pvrit 9r Svfciyikt i X ' 8 - fit $' 42 ox. can and Sauco Soy"GrMtlfMr" Lecn Ground Deef Mtwtv Csr-S-FrenS- CMwtetMt fkMHtv cs RHr M- -t- $1 Csr-- S $1 OA Dologna W ti ia IV HW.s,T Fish Sticks Rdnr Bv Wend 14 pkl- - 99 ChowMdn UrSc Grade Scuicge Top Sirloin Stocks A Ducklings Stt4PWHlSiM $9 OA lb. IIcri llslves iMMhu Rmm4 Up Prfi:-.l208lono-l- n $1I OA A .M.68 toy' V yearlings, newborns. Looking 3 oz. pkgs. 1 VZS (QHQ Q Fried Rice LEanoyuc.hr $1 'S,. 1 m'mi JoodlOS .49 1 3 0 All lH!jn 1 ' -- v but he's now, Most'''' cattleman. recently, he worked and lived in Roosevelt. He''" that raising ' beavers satisfies his love ':r outdoors. the for "Working with any kind ' of animal is a job I'd like," he says as he squints in the glare of the snow. After years of cattle and feed lots, "this Febrk CJttdi Laundry Aid is something new." Dean Sprout t at Ledbetter, spent most of his live as a states Cloron Bleach Cnmcfty months 3 for yellow and red for' you immediately think of a rancher with his worn cowboy hat and tanned face. He's been working with the beavers for eight La Choy Assorted (o) fratk 'a MR Iraehfmt Unki L V QEga Rolls QChow Mein X-- v beavers, ' ' is Ledbetter . responsible for raising the beavers up to pelting age. The farm itself is owned by ' Western Boston Butts J? Beaver Association, a company that operates several beaver farms t around the state, Gallon cho,Elooy 0 KrCft SllCeS Creed Velveeta Cheese Mrs. Wright's Sliced Oatmeal or Potato 0 Sliced Breed Mrs. Wright's Multi-Mea- l oi. PkS CI 24 01. loal Mm. 'V TELL US 75' 70 M w How many times have "That you thought should be in the paper." Itcanbe.Phone255-35M- . 'A |