114 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



all day, diving for the roots of the lily-pads. But the 

 old mother is always on guard, for the wolves and bears 

 are ravenous in spring. Soon the cubs can cut the 

 hardening bark of alder and willow as well as their 

 two-year-old brothers; and the wonderful thing is 

 if a tooth breaks, it grows into perfect shape inside of 

 a week. 



By August the little fellows are great swimmers, 

 and the colony begins the descent of the stream for 

 their winter home. If unmolested, the old dam is 

 chosen ; but if the hated man-smell is there, new water 

 ways are sought. Burrows and washes and channels 

 and retreats are cleaned out. Trees are cut and a great 

 supply of branches laid up for winter store near the 

 lodge, not a chip of edible bark being wasted. Just 

 before the frost they begin building or repairing the 

 dam. Each night s frost hardens the plastered clay 

 till the conical wattled roof never more than two 

 feet thick will support the weight of a moose. 



All work is done with mouth and fore paws, and 

 not the tail. This has been finally determined by ob 

 serving the Marquis of Bute s colony of beavers. If 

 the family the old parents and three seasons off 

 spring be too large for the house, new chambers are 

 added. In height the house is seldom more than five 

 feet from the base, and the width varies. In building 

 a new dam they begin under water, scooping out clay, 

 mixing this with stones and sticks for the walls, and 

 hollowing out the dome as it rises, like a coffer-dam, 

 except that man pumps out water and the beaver scoops 

 out mud. The domed roof is given layer after layer 

 of clay till it is cold-proof. Whether the houses have 

 one door or two is disputed; but the door is always at 



