THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 105 



of the beavers' life. Already the female was 

 becoming restless, making and remaking the bed 

 of shredded wood and grass. She did not appear to 

 care for the society of her mate, who kept away 

 from her during much of the time. Finally he 

 left the lodge, and sought a temporary home in a 

 bank burrow, and it was but a few days later that 

 in the lodge could be heard the faint whining cry 

 of a newly arrived family of three. Three small, 

 furry imitations of their parents, about twelve 

 inches long and rather greyer in colour than they 

 would be later ; their ears were very dark and their 

 eyes were open from the first day,* and their teeth 

 good miniatures of those with which their parents had 

 done so much useful work. Occasionally the young 

 father came into the lodge, but he seldom stayed 

 long, evidently he considered it wise to let the 

 mother have the place to herself and young. For 

 two weeks she kept them in the dark, warm house, 

 nursing and watching over them with the true 

 solicitude which is so wonderful and so exquisitely 

 unselfish in what we term the lower forms of hfe. 

 Willingly would she have sacrificed her own life if 

 occasion demanded. No danger would have been 

 considered too great if her offspring were in peril, 

 but fortunately they were safe and she only had to 

 nurse and caress them while they got their strength. 



* Some authorities claim that the young are blind at birth, but 

 the opinion of trappers and others with whom I have spoken is 

 that their eyes are open from the first. — A. E. D. 



