274 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



Of sociable disposition, and resorting, as might be supposed, to 

 water and its immediate vicinity, Beavers construct dwelling-places 

 with remarkable cleverness, such streams, ponds, lakes, etc., being 

 frequented near which timber may be procured. Strong teeth 

 enable the four-footed builders to bite through and collect wood 

 wherewith to build their homes, and little logs having been prepared 

 by them of a suitable length, the animals, with the aid of mud, 

 stones and other material, construct a dam which has been known on 

 occasions to measure two hundred yards in length and several feet 

 in thickness. This having been accomplished, and a quiet seques- 

 tered pool having been walled in, as it were, the Beavers set about 

 the construction of various dome-shaped residences, each dwelling- 

 place being capable of housing five or six of their number. From 

 the houses which constitute the little colony there are burrows con- 

 nected with the bank, the entrances to these being placed under- 

 water so that enemies are placed at a discount, and to provide a 

 means for securing food when the river is frozen. 



The roof of each house is built of mud, and when the time for 

 Spring-cleaning arrives there is great activity among the inhabitants 

 of the Beaver "village," each tenement being repaired and made 

 ready for family affairs. The fore-feet ably assist the animal in 

 becoming an expert plasterer; the hind-legs are used for swimming, 

 whilst the tail acts as a sort of rudder. In Winter the Beaver is 

 less active than at any other time, keeping secure inside one of the 

 well-constructed habitations, which, during frost and snow, becomes 

 frozen hard, and thus shelters the beast from its enemies, chief 

 among which is the Wolverine. 



The food consists of various kinds of vegetable matter during 

 Summer, but in Winter bark from stored-up logs is partaken of 

 exclusively. 



OTTERS. The Common Otter (Fig. 217) is first cousin to the 

 larger beast known as the Sea Otter, the latter at no time a very 

 numerous species, being restricted to the East and West portions 

 of the North Pacific. 



Belonging to the Weasel family, there are several other kinds of 

 Otters besides the two mentioned, such as the North American Otter, 

 which has a much larger "naked area at the tip of the muzzle " than 

 the European animal; the Brazilian and Feline Otters of South 

 America, the former being the largest of all living kinds and the 

 latter one of the smallest; the Smooth Indian Otter, Hairy-Nosed 



