THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 117 



the leaves began to fall and carpet the earth with 

 their varied and brilliant colours, but little har- 

 vesting had been done. Perhaps they knew that 

 aspens are easily cut and that far more material 

 could be gathered in a given space of time than if 

 large tough-wooded birches and maples were to 

 furnish the supply. However that may be, the 

 cutting of the aspens did not begin in earnest until 

 November. Then, as though suddenly realising 

 the lateness of the season, a vigorous attack was 

 made on them. Over a dozen were felled in 

 a single night. Each one was quickly stripped of 

 its branches and cut into convenient lengths and 

 in this way carried down piece by piece to the 

 canal and through it floated down to the pond and 

 then to the wood pile. In going down the canal, 

 each piece of wood was lifted over the dams, 

 which soon showed much sign of hard wear, so 

 that constant repairs were necessary. The year 

 and a half old beavers did nearly as much work as 

 their parents, and for nights there was an almost 

 constant procession coming and going between the 

 lodge and the head of the canal. With astonish- 

 ing rapidity the store grew, and it would have 

 been difficult to estimate the number of cords of 

 wood it contained. Even during the freezing 

 nights, when ice formed on the still waters, the 

 beaver continued their harvesting, frequently 

 having to break the ice which formed along the 

 canal. Finally, one evening, they came out of 



