The Tail Slapper 39 



shore seldom came and the entrance of which was blocked 

 with enough aquatic vegetation to shut out most canoes. 



I had always heard that aspens and willows were the fa- 

 vorite food of the beaver, so I expected they would be at- 

 tacked first. But apparently the reporting scientists had not 

 seen beavers exposed to silver poplars, for in this case their 

 diet preference was for poplars to the exclusion of all other 

 trees. When I came around in four days one of the trees was 

 down and half the branches had disappeared, which led me 

 to believe that there must be at least a pair of beavers to 

 make such progress. As it appeared quite probable that the 

 animals might confine their attention to this little island, I 

 checked and found that it contained a few willows and 

 twenty-seven silver poplars, eight or nine inches in diameter, 

 thirty to forty feet high, and as bushy and thrifty as could 

 be desired. 



I would have liked to watch the beavers begin the con- 

 struction of a dam and lodge. I knew the water was deep 

 enough for the transportation of their food supply, and the 

 shore was high enough to permit construction of burrows. 

 It was a bank-beaver location. I wondered if the animals 

 showed any preference for bank sites. In such areas they 

 would be spread out to prevent easy trapping, while, in 

 lodges, the concentration was such that the early trappers, 

 once they found such a location, seldom left until they had 

 cleaned out the entire colony. 



If the removal of island trees was any indication, the 

 marsh population of beavers (one to ?) prospered. Every 

 few days I noticed that a tree had been felled, cut up, and 

 pieces removed. Trees on the margins went first and soon 

 the place had a shorn look quite different from the comfort- 

 able roundness that had formerly covered it. Although I sel- 

 dom saw the animals, the disappearance of the trees and the 

 short troughs made by the hauled material plainly indicated 

 the speed and method of operation. My suspicion that they 



