pieces in this pile may have been floated through 

 a canal of such magnitude that a generation was 

 required to construct it. Altogether, harvest- 

 gathering is interesting and heroic work on the 

 part of the beaver. In doing it he takes large 

 risks, for the harvest is usually gathered far 

 from the house and on the dangerous beaver 

 frontier. 



For more than a quarter of a century I have 

 been a friendly visitor to his colonies, in which 

 I have lingered long and lovingly. That he makes 

 mistakes is certain, but that he is an intelligent, 

 reasoning animal I have long firmly believed. 

 As I said in " Wild Life on the Rockies," "I 

 have so often seen him change his plans so wisely 

 and meet emergencies so promptly and well that 

 I can think of him only as a reasoner." 



As evidence that he sometimes reasons, it may 

 be cited that he occasionally endeavors to fell 

 trees in a given direction ; that he often avoids 

 cutting those entangled at the top ; that some- 

 times he will, on a windy day, fell trees on the 

 leeward side of a grove; that he commonly avoids 

 felling trees in the heart of a grove, but cuts on 



57 



