56 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 



bite of its bark and ate with an expressionless 

 face. Evidently it was good, for after eating 

 the old fellow scratched a large pile of trash 

 against the base of the tree, and from this plat- 

 form gnawed the tree off above the swollen 

 base. While he was gnawing a splinter of wood 

 wedged between his upper front teeth. This 

 was picked out by catching it with the double 

 nails of the second toe on the right hind foot. 

 This aspen was ten inches in diameter at the 

 point cut off. The diameter of trees cut is 

 usually from three to six inches. The largest 

 beaver cutting that I have measured was a cot- 

 tonwood with a diameter of forty-two inches. 

 On large, old trees the rough bark is not eaten, 

 but from the average tree which is felled for food 

 all of the bark and a small per cent of the wood 

 is eaten. Rarely will a beaver cut dead wood, 

 and only in emergencies will he cut a pine or a 

 spruce. Apparently the pitch is distasteful to 

 him. 



One day another beaver cut a number of 

 small aspens and dragged these, one or two 

 at a time, to the pond. After a dozen or more 

 were collected, all were pushed off into the water. 

 Against this small raft the beaver placed his 

 forepaws and swimming pushed it to the food- 

 pile near the centre of the old pond. 



At the close of harvest the beavers in Broken 



