210 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 



stumps suggested that prehistoric beavers 

 large as bears had reappeared on earth. 



At last cold, ice, snow, and enemies com- 

 pletely stopped the beavers' harvest gathering. 

 The food provided for the colony's winter supply 

 was less than one half that needed. But the 

 beavers had done their best, and come what 

 may, they would alertly, stoically meet it. 



These colonists had a hard winter. I visited 

 them a number of times. Now and then snow 

 covered the frozen pond, but usually the wind in 

 sweeping down the open-stream avenue through 

 the woods left the ice clear. One day, looking 

 through the clear ice of the pond, I counted 

 six beavers, but on most occasions I was able 

 to see only one or two. The population of this 

 colony probably numbered twelve or fifteen. 



The upper part of the area flooded by their 

 pond had been a semi-swampy tract bearing 

 thick growths of water-loving plants. The roots 

 of sedge, bulbs of lilies, tubers of many plants, 

 and long juicy roots of willow and alder were 

 made use of by these beavers facing a food- 

 shortage. 



I supposed it was only a question of time be- 

 fore they would be shut off by the thick ice from 

 this root supply. But they dug a deep water- 

 way a canal about two feet wide and nearly 

 as deep from the house in the centre of the 



