j8 2 lakes and streams 



beavers are sometimes compelled by circumstances to emigrate to more suitable 

 localities, where they start building immediately, as was observed at Rosen in 

 Norway in 1875. 



The beaver will live in captivity until fifty years old, and in the wild state 

 probably attains a greater age. Its food is the bark, young wood, buds, and 

 sprigs of the trees it fells ; the favourite trees being aspen, poplar, willow, birch, 

 ash, and alder; hazel, sycamore, and crab-apple are not so much in request. It 

 also feeds on water-plants, and occasionally wild fruits. Before winter begins 

 beavers gather in a store of large pieces of wood, of which only the bark is 

 generally eaten, although in cases of need some of the wood itself. This wood 

 is sunk in the water in front of the entrance of the lodge, and sometimes 

 stands up out of the water ; occasionally the provisions are piled up inside the 

 lodge. The colder the winter the larger the store; when a hard frost sets in 

 suddenly, the store is gathered in a great hurry, which seems to show that the 

 beaver has a keen sense of the influence of the weather. 



Another rodent which must be noticed here is the water-rat 

 Water-Rat. ,.,..,.,. ,, , 



(Jlicrotus ampkibius), which is as common as the beaver is rare, 



and seems to be always on the increase. In almost all brooks and rivers in Europe 

 water-rats are more or less common, and they extend eastwards, north of the 

 Himalaya to China. They are by no means confined to the river-banks, but are 

 often found in meadows and ploughed fields at a considerable distance from the 

 water. Although the water-rat may, perhaps, eat flesh, it is principally a vegetable- 

 feeder, living on all kinds of water-plants, and in winter not disdaining the bark of 

 trees and shrubs, and is not averse to turnips, potatoes, and other field-crops. While 

 eating, a water-rat sits erect like a squirrel, and takes one piece after another 

 between its fore-feet, to nibble off a little, and then drop it and pick it up again ; 

 and when swimming at ease it holds its fore-paws close to its body and uses its 

 hind pair only, but at the least alarm it strikes out with all four and makes for 

 its burrow or dives to the bottom, from which it soon has to rise to breathe, for it 

 cannot stay much longer than a minute under water. The burrow is long and 

 winding, generally having an entrance below the level of the water and always 

 one to the surface of the land. At the mouth of the land entrance the water-rat 

 can usually be seen in the evening and early morning, though it spends most of 

 its time in the water or close to it, along the bank, feeding on the flags and 

 horsetails and plants of similar habit. So long as the burrow is undisturbed it 

 will remain tenanted for years. There are five or sis in a litter, and when 

 danger is evident the female will carry her young ones in her mouth as a cat 

 does her kittens and place them in safety, running to and fro until she has taken 

 them all. 



Water-rats have been watched by quiet observers for hours, and are un- 

 doubtedly more intelligent than they are given credit for. In length they are 

 under nine inches, and in build are much stouter and clumsier than the brown 

 rat, for which they are often mistaken. In colour they are dark reddish brown, 

 mingled with black above and with grey below; the fur is thick and shining, 

 and there is a sort of under-fur of shorter, finer hairs. The head is short and 



