134 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 



in the aspen grove gnawing away at a seven- 

 inch aspen. This was nearly cut off. In giv- 

 ing the finishing bites he tiptoed, edged around 

 the stump this way, then that. When it began 

 to crack and settle he started toward the canal. 

 He caught a small piece of aspen in his teeth, 

 dragged this down into the canal and left it, 

 and swam on down to the house. 



In the water-filled basin at the end of the 

 canal apparently the fresh cuttings were col- 

 lected and later transferred by water to their 

 place of deposit in the pond. These aspen 

 chunks were from five to eight feet long, were 

 parts of small aspen tree trunks freshly cut off 

 at each end. 



Down in the pond, floating above the depos- 

 ited pile, were numbers of aspen limbs and tops. 

 The bark of these as well as of the larger cuttings 

 was to serve as winter food for the beavers. 



Beavers do not eat meat or fish, but chiefly 

 bark, with a little of roots, mushrooms, lily 

 bulbs, and berries. Yet several times during 

 the past year I read of beaver catching fish 

 out of season, too. 



This old beaver frequently appeared, first 

 at one place and then at another. Each time, 

 too, in daylight. He did not seem afraid. But 

 the other beavers were not seen except about 

 sundown, or in the twilight. This old beaver 



