3n 



quantity of food, sufficient, in fact, to have sup- 

 plied twice that number for the longest and most 

 severe winter. The winter which followed was as 

 mild a one as had passed over the Rocky Moun- 

 tains in fifty years. Not one tenth of the big 

 food-pile was eaten. 



I have not detected anything that indicates that 

 the beaver ever plan for an especially hard win- 

 ter. Goodly preparations are annually made for 

 winter. Apparently the extent of the preparation 

 in any colony is dependent almost entirely upon 

 the number of beaver that are to winter in that 

 colony. Winter preparations consist of gathering 

 the food-harvest, repairing and sometimes raising 

 the dam, and commonly covering the house with 

 a layer of mud. Beaver display forethought, in- 

 telligence, and even wisdom, but being weather- 

 wise is not one of their successful specialties. 

 Local beaver now and then show unusual activity, 

 and unusually large supplies are gathered and 

 stored for the winter. This kind of work appears 

 to.be local, not general. The cases in which un- 

 usually large preparations were made for the 

 winter could have been traced to an increased 

 46 



