io 4 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



like a great delta from a canon. At that time it 

 was commonly believed that winter weather could 

 be foretold from the autumn preparations of 

 beavers. If they raised the height of their dam and 

 deepened the pond it meant cold weather and 

 unusually thick ice. If they laid in an extra-large 

 food supply it meant that the winter would be long. 

 I had assumed this theory to be correct, but on 

 this trip I had to change my old belief in beaver 

 weather wisdom. At one place two colonies side 

 by side had made unlike preparations. In one, 

 extensive and almost complete preparations had 

 been made for the winter. In the other, the beav- 

 ers had just begun to cut down trees for the winter 

 food supply and neither house nor dam had been 

 repaired. After I had seen many similar cases it 

 was impressed upon me that the extent of the pre- 

 parations which beavers made for winter was de- 

 termined by the requirements of the colony, chiefly 

 by the number of beavers in it. If dam or house 

 was repaired it was because it needed repairs. Be- 

 ginning these preparations early or beginning them 

 late might be due to the greater or less amount of 

 work to be done, or to the individuality of the 

 leader of a colony. 



I lingered among crags in a moorland above the 

 timberline and watched a flock of Bighorn sheep. 

 A number were feeding, others were playing, and 

 a few were lying down. Two sentinels, each poised 

 upon a commanding rock, were eternally vigilant 



