CHAEACTEE STUDY OF A BEAVER. 521 



eriitioii he decided to satisfy his curiosity by coiiiino- straio-ht for the 

 cainci-a, slowly at first and hesitating- slightly at each step.^ Each leg 

 of the tripod was carefully scrutinized and found to be harmless; so^ 

 resting his hands on one of the tripod legs, he raised himself and took 

 a good look at the camera itself. His nose must have discovered some 

 new odor, for he sniti'ed at it, tirst on one side, then on the other. 



Presently bis attention was attracted to the rubber ball belonging to 

 the shutter. This was swinging at the end of the tube, and he thought 

 that, perhaps, it was something new in the way of food. In another 

 moment the bulb would have been rendered useless, as it would have 

 been ([uickly punctured with his sharp teeth. At this critical moment 

 1 had to interfere, very much to the old chap's disgust. 



Wishing- to make friends with this strange animal, I sat down near 

 the camera. At once he came so close that I could put my hand on 

 his soft, furry back, wondering- at the same time what would happen 

 if he should take it into his head to use his teeth, for with their extra- 

 ordiiiar}' strength and sharpness the amputation of a linger or two 

 would have been the work of but an instant. There was, however, no 

 need of fear, as he was a very well-meaning old fellow, and contented 

 himself with walking slowly round me, stopping- occasionally to sit on 

 his hind legs and take a general surve}' of the curious being who went 

 about with such a queer three-legged companion. 



Satisfied that he might safely leave me for a short while, he went to 

 his corner, and after looking for a few minutes at his neighbors, who 

 were swimming about in their pond, he walked down his path to the 

 water's edge and in his own peculiar, noiseless way plunged in. Very 

 soon he discovered a nice green stick upon which some of the bark still 

 remained. This he brought into shallow water, and, holding it with 

 his two front paws (hands they should perhaps be called), proceeded 

 to make a meal ofi" the laark. This may seem a very unsatisfactory 

 sort of supper, yet he enjoyed it. But a few minutes were required 

 to strip the stick, after Avhich, as he had no house to build, it served 

 no further use and was left in the water, while the animal swam roimd 

 the pond, making a tour of investigation, which resulted in his finding 

 nothing more that was suited to his taste. So coming ashore, near 

 where I stood, he commenced his evening toilet. 



This was an interesting sight to watch. To ))egin with, instead of 

 sitting with his large, fiat, ril)l)ed tail protruding behijid him. he tucked 

 it forward between his hind legs and sat upon it. Then with his hand 

 he carefully combed his long hair, using both hands at the same time. 

 There were many places, however, that could not be reached in this 

 way, for his arms are very short and his body ^'ery large; so he combed 

 these otherwise inaccessible places with his hind feet, using first one 

 and then the other. The entire operation was performed with the 



