THE BEAVERS OF BEAVER CREEK 



out of life at the least possible expense. There 

 was but one living room in their winter castle 

 as in that of all beavers. The walls were over 

 five feet thick. The only ventilation was 

 through the porous material of the structure 

 near the top of the lodge and through which 

 the animals received all the fresh air they 

 breathed. It would not have been enough to 

 keep you and I alive but it was quite sufficient 

 for the little furry occupants. The floor of the 

 room was covered with brush and plastered 

 smooth and hard with mud. The outside was 

 finished with sticks, slough grass and mud. On 

 the whole it was not very decorative but satis- 

 factorily answered the purpose for which it was 

 intended. It defied the sharp claws of any 

 four-footed enemies and even man's axe would 

 find it hard to break through. The wise little 

 beavers, housed snugly in their strong fortifica- 

 tion, whiled the weary winter months away in 

 one long, jolly vacation, darting here and there 

 among the fishes and other water neighbors, 

 pulling up a rush or green water-plant for their 

 noonday salad, all unseen and protected by the 

 icy canopy above. 



