/yVOT until one year of drought did I realize 

 \*y how dependent the beaver is upon a con- 

 stant water-supply that is both fresh and am- 

 ple. A number of beaver colonies close to my 

 cabin were badly afflicted by this dry period. 

 I was already making special studies of beaver 

 ways among the forty-odd beaver colonies that 

 were within a few miles of my mountain home, 

 and toward the close of this droughty summer 

 I made frequent rounds among the beaver. By 

 the middle of September I confined these atten- 

 tions to five of the colonies that were most 

 affected by low water. Two were close to each 

 other, but upon separate brooks. The other 

 three were upon one tumbling streamlet. 



Autumn is the busiest time of the year in 

 beaver world. Harvest is then gathered, the 

 dam is repaired, sometimes the pond is partly 

 dredged, and the house is made ready for win- 

 ter, — all before the pond freezes over. But 



249 



