3n 



they appear in the water accompanied by the 

 mother. Often I have investigated beaver colonies 

 endeavoring to determine the number of young- 

 sters at a birth. Many times there were four of 

 these furry, serious little fellows near the house 

 on a log that was thrust up through the water. 

 At other times from one to eight youngsters 

 sunned themselves on the top of the rude home. 



One May, in examining beaver colonies, I saw 

 three sets of youngsters in the Moraine Colony. 

 They numbered three, and two, and five. One 

 mother in another colony proudly exhibited eight, 

 while still another, who had been harassed all 

 winter by trappers and who lived in a burrow in 

 the bank, could display but one. 



It is not uncommon for young orphan beavers 

 to be cared for and adopted by another mother 

 beaver. I have notes of three mothers who, with 

 children of their own, at once took charge of 

 orphans left by the death of a neighbor. One 

 June a mother beaver was killed near my camp. 

 Her children escaped. The following evening a 

 new mother, with four children of her own adopted 

 them and moved from her own home, a quarter 

 28 



