166 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 



was but a short time before the industrious animals 

 commenced work; the stream was so small that 

 they were unable even to swim in it, so a dam 

 was planned and rapidly constructed. Trees were 

 felled, some of which were nearly eighteen inches in 

 diameter ; from these the branches were cut, then 

 divided into convenient lengths and used in the 

 dam building ; the bottom of the stream was 

 dredged and the mud and roots used to finish oft 

 the structure and make it watertight. The number 

 of trees decreased so rapidly through the industry 

 of those four-footed engineers that it became 

 necessary to protect those that still remained 

 unharmed with heavy wire netting. This at first 

 was fastened to the tree in direct contact, but it 

 was soon discovered that the beavers could cut the 

 tree between the meshes. To prevent this an iron 

 rail, to which the wire was attached, was placed at 

 a little distance from the tree. The dam was by 

 this time fairly large, but not as large as was 

 needed. More material was needed, so a great 

 quantity of cut wood was thrown into the enclosure 

 and was immediately utilised by the beavers ; in a 

 short time the level of the water was raised many 

 feet with the result that a pond of considerable 

 dimensions was formed. Three other dams were 

 also built down stream from the main structure, 

 about fifty feet apart. It was late summer by the 

 time this work was accomplished, and a house had 

 to be built with as little delay as possible, for with 



