BEAVERS 143 



quite short and the hand-hke front paws are used 

 to grasp and carry things. When they swim they 

 use their broad, flat tails as rudders; when they fell 

 a tree they use them as props to support their bodies 

 during the hard work. But, strangest of all, they 

 use them to warn the other beavers by slapping 

 hard upon the water or upon the ground, in case of 

 danger. 



The beavers know that they must have certain 

 things where they are to build their homes. There 

 must be water and there must be plenty of trees with 

 soft, juicy bark, such as aspens, alders and willows, 

 for that is what they live upon, and of these they 

 must cut enough to last them over the long winter. 

 Wood must be used, too, for building the dam and the 

 house. Then, these trees must grow near the water 

 so they can be transported easily when cut; for the 

 beavers can carry a heavy load when swimming in 

 the water, but on land it would be quite a difficult 

 task. Besides the kind and number of trees, and 

 their nearness to water, the water itself must be a 

 brook flowing through such a place that, when a 

 dam is built across it, and the water is forced back, 

 a pond will be formed. 



Haven't you ever in your play built a dam of 

 stones, or sticks and leaves, across some brook, and 

 seen the small pond that is made by the water which 

 cannot get over the dam? Did you know that 

 almost all ponds and lakes are made because some- 

 thing has stopped the flow of the water of a stream? 

 The beavers seem to know this, and they build dams 

 so they can have a pond just where they want it, 



