THE STORY OF THE BEAVER. 



"Working like a beaver" is a common expression and means exactly 

 what it says, for there is no creature possessed of greater industry than this 

 little fur-bearing animal found along the streams of North America and some 

 of the larger European rivers such as the Rhone and Danube. 



If men were like beavers everybody would have a house of his own built 

 by himself. 



The beaver's house, or "lodge," as it is called, is a hollow mound of 

 sticks, mud and stones, forming a cave-like chamber. The floor is always 

 above the water line and is made smooth and hard by mixing twigs with 

 mud and beating them into a solid mass. The beaver builds his lodge on the 

 bank of a stream, or on an island in the stream, with the entrance under the 

 water. To prevent its freezing up in the winter he first builds a dam across 

 the stream and deepens the water. 



As beavers live together in what are called "towns," every inhabitant of 

 the town assists in building the dam and keeping it in repair. With their 

 strong, long, sharp, yellow teeth they cut down immense trees, and are so 

 expert in this work that the trees always fall toward the dam. The branches 

 of the trees are dragged to the stream and laid lengthwise in the current. 

 Sometimes heavy stones are dropped on them to keep them in place. 



Meanwhile other beavers roll heavy logs from the forest to the dam, 

 pushing them over and over with their strong noses. 



55 



