NATURE GUIDING AT HOME 233 



doing things in my own way, and by chance it 

 proved a good way at least for me. 



This was getting well acquainted with home 

 territory together with specializing on the 

 best spots in it. John Burroughs wrote a 

 number of books concerning experiences on his 

 long-settled New York farm, and Fabre wrote 

 several books about the small wild people in his 

 yard. Many were the ways of trees, birds, and 

 animals that I learned before I could identify 

 any one of these. At Lily Lake and other 

 beaver colonies I learned twenty-five or more 

 stories about the beaver, and many of the ways of 

 other animals, years before I learned to identify 

 twenty-five birds and animals combined. 



Among the numerous things which I had early 

 seen a beaver do were : 



Gnaw down trees. 



Carry mud in hands. 



Sit on his tail. 



Carry mud and sticks between tail and 

 stomach while swimming. 



Dig a canal. 



Kill a wildcat. 



Run from a wolf. 



Dredge mud from the bottom of the pond. 



Wrestle and play with other beavers. 



Build part of a dam. 



Float a tree across a pond. 



