3n 



which carried but little or no sediment I have 

 noticed a number of instances in which a pond 

 was made on a small streamlet with greater labor 

 than it would have required to form a pond in a 

 near-by brook. As there were a number of other 

 conditions favorable to the brook situation of the 

 house, the only conclusion I could reach was that 

 these selections for colony-sites were made with 

 the intention of avoiding the ever-encroaching 

 sediment, for in some beaver ponds this sedi- 

 ment is deposited annually to the depth of sev- 

 eral inches. 



Ice is one of the troubles of beaver existence. 

 It is of the utmost importance to the beaver that 

 he should have his house so situated that the ice 

 of winter does not close the entrance to it, and 

 also that the deep water in which his pile of 

 green provisions is deposited does not freeze 

 solid and thus exclude him from the food- 

 supply. The ice fills the pond from the top and 

 compels him to be constantly vigilant to save 

 himself from its encroachments. Many a beaver 

 home has been built alongside a spring, around 

 which the beaver dredged a deep hole and in this 



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