114 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 



known are those in the Yellowstone Park, although in Can- 

 ada and the Northwest many still remain. 



Th most wonderful thing about the Beaver is the manner 

 in which he builds dams, to make ponds deep enough for 

 his timber-floating operations, and to afford him a sub- 

 marine passage to his house. Give him a valley and a 

 stream of water, and he will gladly make a pond out of 

 whatever raw materials are at hand. He uses the four-foot 

 sticks from which he has eaten the bark for food, and with 

 these, and an abundance of mud, he will raise a good strong 

 dam to a height of four feet, and a width on the ground of 

 ten feet or more. The mud used is dug out of the bottom 

 and sides of his pond, and carried, while swimming, be- 

 tween his paws, with his front feet holding it against his 

 breast. The sticks used in the dam are thrust endwise into 

 the mud on top of the dam, and the mud used is patted 

 down with his fore feet. The tail is not used as a trowel, 

 but in swimming it is the Beaver's propeller. 



In captivity the Beaver is not wholly a satisfactory animal. 

 Like some human craftsmen, he positively declines to work 

 under observation, and performs nearly all his tasks at 

 night. He thinks nothing of gnawing down a tree a foot 

 in diameter, and cutting its limbs into pieces which he can 

 handle while swimming. If he can secure enough food- 

 wood of kinds to his liking, he eats little else. Besides 

 building dams to create ponds in which he can take refuge 

 when hard pressed, he constructs canals, and houses for 

 winter use. He also digs burrows into high banks; but his 

 entrances to his various homes always are under water. 



