250 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



The dam, which was about fifteen feet in length, with 

 a cross-section of some two feet, was entirely made in the 

 course of three weeks during the summer of 1890. In 

 Canada, when the dam is sufficiently stout, the pool will 

 eventually silt up and form a " beaver-meadow," but Mr. 

 Collett does not record any of these " meadows " in 

 Norway. 



During the cold winter months the 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 which for most of the time is 

 buried in snow. Sometimes, however, when the weather 

 is mild for the season, and an unusually cold autumn has 

 prevented the completion of the annual repairs at the 

 proper time, the beavers will venture out from their 

 retirement for a short period in order to remedy such 

 dilapidations as stand in urgent need of immediate atten- 

 tion. When they have been engaged on such works their 

 footprints are visible in the snow. Immediately after the 

 breaking up of the ice in spring the animals issue forth 

 to procure a fresh supply of food and resume their daily 

 avocations. 



The young beavers are born in April or May, three 

 being 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 size of a cat. When 

 able to shift for themselves, they leave the parental lodge, 

 and frequently start off to found a family in some fresh 

 locality, although sometimes they set off on their wanderings 

 alone. Following the courses of small streams, they 

 frequently track straight across the open mountain-slopes 

 for many miles, so that one or more not infrequently 

 make their appearance in valleys where none have been 



