THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 121 



tunnels being made from the land which would 

 allow of access to the interior of the lodge. 



During the summer, the beavers wandered about 

 the country and were seldom much at home, but 

 towards the middle of August they returned for 

 good, and slowly did what work was necessary in 

 the way of building and repairing dams and lodges. 

 The older pair of visitors kept pretty well to their 

 own pond, building their dams and lodge without 

 assistance from the rest of the colony, who had 

 quite enough to do to attend to their own needs. 

 When wood harvesting began, the two families in 

 the larger pond made a single wood-pile which 

 would serve them both. With eleven mouths to 

 feed it was necessary that the store should be even 

 larger than on the previous year. Most of the 

 harvesting was obtained from the aspen grove at 

 the head of the canal, and the number of trees cut 

 was past all belief. The woods resembled the 

 scene of serious logging operations as carried on by 

 men. Paths were cut intersecting the whole knoll 

 and everything was most orderly ; each stump was 

 a triumph in the art of wood-cutting, clean and 

 smooth as though cut by an experienced lumber- 

 man. No waste was to be found anywhere. 

 Every trunk whose bark was in proper condition 

 was neatly divided into convenient-sized sections 

 and removed to the wood-pile, not even a twig 

 was left. Besides the aspens, the beaver occasion- 

 ally undertook the more laborious task of cutting 



