wolves, lions, bears, and wildcats; but they are 

 excellent swimmers, and in water they easily 

 elude their enemies, and through it they con- 

 veniently bring their harvests home. Water is 

 necessary for their existence, and to have this at 

 all times compels the construction of dams and 

 ponds. 



In the new Moraine Colony one of the houses 

 was torn to pieces by some animal, probably 

 a bear. This was before Thanksgiving. About 

 midwinter a prospector left his tunnel a few 

 miles away, came to the colony, and dynamited 

 a house, and "got seven of them." Next year 

 two houses were built on the ruins of the 

 two just fallen. That year's harvest-home was 

 broken by deadly attacks of enemies. In gather- 

 ing the harvest the beavers showed a preference 

 for some aspens that were growing in a moist 

 place about one hundred feet from the water. 

 Whether it was the size of these or their pecu- 

 liar flavor that determined their election in pre- 

 ference to nearer ones, I could not determine. 

 One day, while several beavers were cutting 

 here, they were surprised by a mountain lion, 



35 



