ROAD-MAKING ANIMALS 39 



able and willing to combine, do not seem to realise 

 that co-operative road-clearing would help the com- 

 munity in general. The late Professor Drummond 

 noted the same idiosyncrasy among the natives of 

 Central Africa. Thin, narrow little footpaths cover 

 the whole central continent, like rabbit-tracks, but 

 even a moderate-sized stone or a bush is left in situ. 

 No one clears away the obstacle, and the path goes 

 round it. 



In contrasting the intelligence of other animals 

 with the activities of insects, those creatures, mainly 

 rodents, which form winter stores of food, and trans- 

 port this from some distance to the hoard, naturally 

 suggest a parallel. As a rule, the objects which they 

 transport are light and small in size, such as beans, 

 kernels, nuts, and grain. These need no roads for 

 transport, and the paths of the ground squirrels, 

 hamsters, and mice which carry them are mere tracks. 

 Two rodents do make and improve roads for trans- 

 port. Rats, when established in buildings, will steal 

 and drag home objects as large as a dumpling, or a 

 big turnip, or potatoes. To drag these to their 

 retreats they will at once, and rapidly, enlarge narrow 

 points in their passages, or gnaw away obstacles. But 

 this is only rough road improvement, and extemporised 

 on special occasions. 



Beavers, the only warm-blooded animals which 

 habitually do heavy transport by land, provide for 

 all contingencies by cutting " rolling ways," biting 

 off all stumps and obstacles, and do their log-rolling 

 along these towards the water. There is very little 



