58 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



and not indulging sufficiently in romance. The 

 popular notion that the beaver knows exactly in 

 which direction a tree will fall is not borne out by 

 fact, and I feel sure, after having made a careful 

 study of the subject, that the direction is purely a 

 matter of chance. It is quite true that most trees 

 growing near the water fall towards it, but this is 

 not due in any way to the wishes or skill of the 

 animal, but to the obvious fact that trees grow 

 towards light. The water, being an open space, 

 attracts them ; therefore when cut it is only natural 

 that they should fall the way they are inclined. 

 Another common fallacy is that the beaver never 

 makes mistakes in tree cutting. Quite a large 

 proportion of the trees they cut lodge in the 

 branches of their neighbours. When this happens 

 they are usually abandoned without further effort, 

 but sometimes we see cases which prove the per- 

 sistence of the little woodsmen. Not only will 

 they cut through the trunk a second time, but even 

 a third or fourth time, in the hopes of attaining 

 their object. The photograph shows a good 

 example of this. The tree, a birch, ten inches 

 in diameter at the stump, was cut through twice 

 without bringing it down. A third attempt was 

 made, but not quite completed at the time that the 

 photograph was taken. It is not to be wondered 

 at that the little creatures should make such mis- 

 takes, considering the fact that their eyesight is only 

 fairly good, and that as they work almost entirely 



