TRAVELLING WITH A BEAVER 79 



At the end of my outing Diver became the 

 pet of two pioneer children on the bank of the 

 Snake River. For the first few weeks the chil- 

 dren kept Diver in the house. This plainly 

 was too warm for him, and he was at last given 

 a straw bed in a little dog house just outside 

 the door. He enjoyed spending the nights in 

 this but he insisted on being frequently admitted 

 to the house. The river was less than fifty 

 feet away. To this he made many a journey 

 for a swim and a dive. Often the children went 

 with him. By the hour they would sit on the 

 bank and watch him or play with him by throw- 

 ing sticks into the stream which he would swim 

 out and get and bring back to the shore. 



Diver frequently followed the children about 

 when they went into the woods away from the 

 river. They always travelled too rapidly for 

 him. As he went hurriedly along, trying to 

 keep up, he scolded and scolded. Finally, if 

 they did not stop, he sat down and complained 

 and scolded so vigorously that they usually came 

 back to him. During the first few months they 

 had him the children occasionally helped him 

 along on their way from the river trips by carry- 

 ing him a short distance. This he enjoyed, in 

 fact he enjoyed taking a ride of any kind, even 

 upon a pack horse. The second year he became 

 heavier than the children cared to carry. Al- 



