54 BEAVERS—THEIR WAYS. 
River was also clogged and bridged over in many pla- 
ces by ice, although it opened up again in the channel 
and did not freeze solid until about the [0th of the fol- 
lowing month. The creeks and river shutes, however, 
for the most part remained frozen from October 13th 
until the middle of April, 1870. As arule in ordinary 
years beaver do not commence hauling intheir winter’s 
feed until about the middle of October, but upon this 
occasion the beavers had their dams all repaired and 
their entire winter’s grub collected in their feed beds 
when this extraordinary early cold snap and freeze 
down came. Although these were days before Hick’s 
studied weather signs from revolving planets, aad Fos- 
ter absorbed weather forecasts from good guesses and 
luner’s rays, yet the weather wise men of that day gave 
us no sign of the early winter, but all on the frontier 
could see that being forwarned,the beavers had been up 
and doing and were fully prepared for it. This I had 
proved to my entire satisfaction by a thorough examin- 
ation at the time, of many beaver houses upon the 
banks of the Missouri, as well as some tributary streams. 
The case was noted as directly opposite in the au- 
tumn of 187I, when the hard freeze closing the ice did 
not come until near the end of the month of November. 
At this time I had a good opportunity of taking obser- 
vation of beaver work, as I put in three consecutive fall 
months on the trap line on the streams and lakes enter- 
ing the Missouri between old Forts Rice and Berthold. 
The beaver were noted that autumn for being very tardy 
with work on their feed beds, but the weather situation 
justified or rather harmonized with their dilatory action 
in the matter. 
