222 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



all the time and overtime but not necessarily ac- 

 complishing anything or having a goal. 



The life of the beaver is rich in edifying material, 

 but the preachments and morals concerning his life 

 appear to have been made mostly by censors and 

 professional uplifters without the golden facts. 

 Their pointing to the beaver for lessons and teach- 

 ments in the world of nature would not be so bad 

 if they called attention to actualities. The beaver 

 ever has a purpose; he never works unless he has to 

 do so, this is possibly one day out of seven; he is 

 efficient; and, although his accomplishments are 

 monumental, he is master of the fine art of rest. 



A dozen scouts and leader camped last winter 

 for a week in the mountains. They tried to dis- 

 cover what the ground-hog did on Ground-hog Day. 

 Would the ground-hogs, mindful of their vast re- 

 sponsibilities, come forth or thrust out their heads 

 to announce the weather for the next sixty days ? 

 The scouts were in the woods owned by the father 

 of one of the boys who knew the location of many 

 ground-hog holes. Twelve of these were marked 

 and watched. Four holes were drifted over, sealed 

 with snow, but Mr. Ground-hog did not break a seal; 

 five others were partly filled with snow, but evening 

 came and this snow received not a track, the hiber- 

 nating hog hibernated on; at two of the other three 

 holes nothing showed up; but mid-afternoon, cheer- 

 ing in the direction of the third caused twelve scouts 

 quickly to collect. A cotton-tail rabbit had put out 



