DIMINUTIVE BEAVERS. 



THE drawing of winter's curtain always reveals a 

 multitude of silent activities* Nature has not been 

 dead nor yet sleeping, but has been quietly active 

 through the long months of snow* The root leaves 

 of Asters and Goldenrods are green and vigorous* 

 The Evening Primrose has withstood the frost* The 

 Dandelion is green with promise* All the evergreens 

 are awaiting a welcome* But the revelations of 

 animal activity are far more interesting* Ramified 

 burrows of the little Field Mice and Shore Mice are 

 still preserved in the melting masses of icy snow 

 lingering in shaded hollows* These little fellows are 

 not really Mice, but they are so diminutive that it 

 seems ridiculous to call them by the aggressive name 

 " Arvicola*" They are closely related to the Beaver, 

 and during the long winter have made an unusual 

 attempt to imitate the ways of their big, industrious 

 cousin* They have not been content, as usual, with 

 girdling the small trees under the snow* In many 

 places they have cut down shrubs as thick as the 



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