RESULTS OF BEAVERS' WORK 165 



slide, and wondered whether he would venture 

 near. Slowly he swam towards me, stopping 

 repeatedly to investigate. What it was that gave 

 him confidence I could not tell, but suddenly he 

 apparently made up his mind that there was no 

 occasion for fear and he moved quickly, landing 

 within three feet of where 1 stood. Once on shore 

 he again doubted the wisdom of his course and 

 hesitated, not quite liking to pass so near a human 

 being ; sitting half way up on his hind legs and 

 tail with his small fore paws held close beneath his 

 chin he carefully watched me, his nose moving 

 slowly as though trying to scent an enemy. A 

 few minutes sufficed for this, and then we had 

 established a degree of mutual confidence at once 

 satisfactory and useful, for I hoped on the following 

 day to take a few photos of my new friend, and it 

 is highly desirable that we should be on a footing 

 of trust with our model. It was rapidly becoming 

 dark, too dark, indeed, for me to distinguish much 

 more than the general form of the beaver. So 

 I left him to his thoughts, intending to visit him 

 again the following afternoon. 



That the reader may understand something of 

 the position of this poor old hermit a few words 

 of explanation are needed. When the beavers 

 were first brought to the Zoo they were given for 

 their new home a small enclosure of perhaps 

 two acres. Through this ran a very small stream, 

 the banks of which were fairly well wooded. It 



