OF WILD ANIMALS 169 



The pocket gopher does his migrating and prospecting at 

 night, when his enemies are asleep. The gray squirrel builds 

 for itself a summer nest of leaves. At the real beginning of 

 winter the prairie-"dog" tightly plugs up with moist earth the 

 mouth of his burrow; and he packs it with his nose. The 

 round-tailed muskrat of Florida (Neofiber alleni} builds a little 

 platform over the water of the marsh in which it lives, on which 

 it builds its nest high and dry. The Hudsonian red squirrel 

 will bark and scold at a human intruder for half an hour. 



In Chapter IV I have already accorded the beaver a place 

 with the most intelligent animals of the world. The books 

 that have been written concerning that species have been amply 

 justified. It is, however, impossible to refuse this important 

 animal a place hi any chapter devoted to the mental traits of 

 rodents, and I deem it fitting to record here our latest experi- 

 ence with this remarkable species. 



Our Last Beaver Experiment. In the autumn of 1921 

 we emptied and cleaned out our Beaver Pond. The old house 

 originally built by the beavers in the centre of the pond, was 

 for sanitary reasons entirely removed. Work on the pond 

 was not finished until about October 25; and the beavers had 

 no house. 



It seemed to me a physical impossibility for the beavers 

 to begin a new house at that late date and unassisted finish it by 

 the beginning of winter. One beaver had escaped, and for the 

 remaining three such a task would be beyond their powers. I 

 decided to give them a helping hand, provided they would 

 accept it, by providing them with a wooden house, which they 

 might if they chose, entirely surround and snugly cover with 

 mud and sticks. 



But would they accept it in a grateful spirit, and utilize it? 

 One cannot always tell what a wild animal will do. 



With loose earth a low island with a flat top was built to 

 carry the house. Its top was six inches above high-water mark, 

 and (that would, if accepted) be the floor of the permanent 



