The Tail Slapper 43 



food under the ice or whether there was an exit which led 

 to open water on the bay side. Near me were some cotton - 

 woods which had been protected by a three-foot band of 

 wire netting placed there by those in charge of the Univer- 

 sity grounds. Such protection was badly needed, for one, 

 poorly wrapped, had been attacked just above the netting, 

 and the tree lay on the ground. It told me two things— bea- 

 vers were still about, and they were not depending entirely 

 on stored supplies. 



It had snowed the night before and there were no tracks 

 but mine. Toward the lake there was a short stretch where 

 I could see only smooth whiteness, the ice on the canal, and 

 the rough-covered dome of the beaver lodge. Under the 

 stimulus of such circumstances I had never been able to 

 concentrate on the present and ignore the past. I thought of 

 the many thousands of these lodges which had sheltered the 

 beavers from wild predators and the occasional raids of In- 

 dians who took them only for their own use. Food had been 

 plentiful, and there had been no competition for the trees 

 which they used for dams and lodging. The thousands of 

 colonies flourished. The invasion of the white race had 

 changed these things until finally the beaver had nearly dis- 

 appeared. 



For years the beaver was considered as almost a vanished 

 animal. All talk about it was in terms of its past. But the 

 lodge in front of me slightly changed the picture. Was it 

 possible that the animal might make a comeback? Here was 

 a colony within a city block of a modern stadium. The absence 

 of trapping pressure had made them indifferent to man and 

 his civilization. If beavers could exist within half a mile of 

 district service and commercial clubs, was it illogical to 

 think that, in the future, the animals would again be seen 

 in large numbers? The thought had pleased me and, at the 

 same time, appeared possible. 



Then I remembered the remarks of a professional mam- 



