The Tail Shipper 41 



I saw only a few things to add to these detailed observa- 

 tions. The fact that the little grove of silver poplars was on 

 an island had given me an opportunity to watch the exact 

 speed with which a specific area was denuded, but it was a 

 matter of interest rather than scientific value because I could 

 only guess at the number of animals employed at the work. 

 I had read that the animals did not remove cut pieces over 

 five inches in diameter but either peeled them on the spot or 

 left them untouched. On the island the beavers left no pieces 

 even though some of them were eight inches or more in di- 

 ameter. It may have been because they were particularly 

 fond of this silver poplar, because food was not plentiful or 

 because these trees were so close to the water that no great 

 problem of overland transportation was involved. I had read 

 that the favorite food of the beaver was the heavy root stock 

 of the water lily, but in spite of its comparative abundance I 

 saw no indication that the plants had been raided or fed 

 upon to any extent by mammals. 



I had visited the spot one or two times a week. The num- 

 ber of trees on the island steadily decreased until I began to 

 wonder what the animals would do when the supply was 

 exhausted. The cattails matured and the heads began to 

 burst and scatter their seed. The mallard young had grown 

 to be as large as the hens which raised them. At last only five 

 poplars remained in the center of the island. They had been 

 disappearing at the rate of a tree every six or seven days. 

 The fresh greenness of the island had vanished. Before, from 

 every side of the island, I saw leaves moving in the breeze 

 and showing their undersides so that the whole effect was 

 one of metallic whiteness. But the bare spots had been taken 

 over by nettles so that, if I landed, I wore an old raincoat 

 and a pair of leather gloves to avoid the unpleasant sting. 

 When I returned ten days later I found only one tree stand- 

 ing. The other four had been removed at a rate which far 

 exceeded the previous average. Could they have been har- 



