28 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



say the house, whose base was only a foot or so 

 above the ordinary water-hne, was entirely sub- 

 merged, but though the current was swift and con- 

 tinued for several weeks with this unusual depth of 

 water, the structure of the house remained almost 

 intact, only the loose earth and sod being washed 

 away. Of course the beaver had to abandon their 

 home, and they sought temporary shelter in a high 

 bank beneath the roots of some fir trees. Acci- 

 dents such as these are of frequent occurrence 

 when the lodges are built on the banks of rivers, 

 as the beaver have no control over the depth of 

 water, and such lessons have taught the intelligent 

 animals the advantage of making dams which 

 maintain a more or less constant water level. 

 They learn by sad experience and when they dis- 

 regard such lessons they have usually to pay heavily 

 for their mistakes. 



The river -bank lodges or highly -developed 

 burrows are frequently subject to disaster 

 through rising water, and may be regarded as 

 the work of beavers whose intelligence is some- 

 what below normal. It is well worth observing 

 that these bank lodges or burrows are most often 

 the homes of solitary beaver, those who, perhaps, 

 through their lower development have been turned 

 out of the colonies to shift for themselves. It is 

 possible, of course, that they are only afflicted 

 with the curse of laziness, but this is doubtful, as 

 it is a somewhat rare fault in wild animals. We 



