40 Union Bay 



had constructed a home in the canal bank opposite the north 

 end of the island was confirmed when a temporary lowering 

 of the lake revealed a couple of good-sized tunnels running 

 into the bank. I wondered if there were one or more pairs, 

 but, although I watched closely, I saw no young and never 

 more than one mature animal at a time. The rate of disap- 

 pearance of the trees made it certain that more than one 

 animal was present, so I always approached the spot with 

 the hope that I might see several together. As is common 

 with all mortals, my hopes increased with my accomplish- 

 ments. I wanted to see them at work, to watch them and 

 their young as they went about their daily life. 



It was not because I thought I could add any information 

 to what was already known about the beavers. They had 

 become so tame in some protected areas that they often 

 worked in daylight where they could be studied by any 

 patient and interested person. Intimate details had been 

 learned: the myth that the tail was used as a trowel for 

 plastering had been disproved, and it had been discovered 

 that this heavy spatulate appendage found its principal em- 

 ployment as a rudder, as a support for the hind legs when 

 cutting went on, and as a signaling instrument when danger 

 appeared. Although it appears difficult to believe, it is re- 

 ported that the animals are able to submerge for periods up 

 to fifteen minutes. The trees are felled haphazardly and not, 

 as frequently said, laid down in a predetermined position as 

 would be done by a logger. The choosing of dam sites 

 showed so little skill that rebuilding at a more favorable lo- 

 cation was often necessary. Dams were seldom much over 

 five feet high and few, if any, reached the fifteen or twenty 

 feet reported by legend. Mud for the plastering of holes was 

 not carried in the mouth but in the clasped front legs. The 

 contents of the musk glands, once thought to be of great 

 medical value, had been discredited by research, and were 

 no longer used by reliable physicians. 



