of f 0e (oc8t<!6 



tempts that had been made to fell limb-en- 

 tangled trees that could not fall. One five-inch 

 aspen had three times been cut off at the bot- 

 tom. The third cut was more than three feet 

 from the ground, and was made by a beaver 

 working from the top of a fallen log. Still this 

 high-cut aspen refused to come down and there 

 it hung like a collapsed balloon entangled in tree- 

 tops. 



Before the white man came it is probable 

 that beaver did most of their work in the day- 

 time. But at present, except in the most re- 

 mote localities, day work is perilous. Prowling 

 hunters have compelled most beaver to work 

 at night. The Spruce Tree Colony was an iso- 

 lated one, and occasionally its members worked 

 and even played in the sunshine. Each day I 

 secluded myself, kept still, and waited; and on a 

 few occasions watched them as they worked in 

 the light. 



One windy day, just as I was unroping my- 

 self from the shaking limb of a spruce, four 

 beaver were plodding along in single file be- 

 neath. They had come out of a hole between 



62 



