THE PERSISTENT BEAVER 57 



Tree colony pond covered their houses above 

 waterline with mud, which they dredged from 

 the pond around the foundations of their 

 houses. Sometimes this mud was moved in 

 their forepaws, sometimes by hooking the tail 

 under and dragging it between their hind legs. 

 Then they dug a channel in the bottom of the 

 pond, which extended from the houses to the 

 dam. Parallel with the dam they dug out 'an- 

 other channel; the excavated material was 

 placed on the top of the dam. They also made 

 a shallow ditch in the bottom of the pond that 

 extended from the house to the canal that 

 united the two ponds. 



The following summer was a rainy one, and 

 the pond filled with sediment to the height of 

 the dam. Most of this sediment came from the 

 landslide debris or its sliding place. The old 

 Broken Tree colony was abandoned. 



Different from most animals, the beaver has 

 a permanent home. The beaver has a strong 

 attachment, or love, for his old home, and will 

 go to endless work and repeatedly risk dangers to 

 avoid moving away. He will dig canals, build 

 dams, or even drag supplies long distances by 

 land through difficult and dangerous places that 

 he may live on in the old place. Here his an- 

 cestors may have been born and here he may 

 spend his lifetime. In most cases, however, a 



