'The Builders. 95 



of practice and experience. And some of the beaver 

 dams show wonderful skill. 



There is one beaver that never builds, that never 

 troubles himself about house, 01* dam, or winter's 

 store. I am not sure whether we ought to call him 

 the genius or the lazy man of the family. The bank 

 beaver is a solitary old bachelor living in a den, like 

 a mink, in the bank of a stream. He does not build 

 a house, because a den under a cedar's roots is as safe 

 and warm. He never builds a dam, because there are 

 deep places in the river where the current is too swift 

 to freeze. He finds tender twigs much juicier, even 

 in winter, than stale bark stored under water. As 

 for his telltale tracks in the snow, his wits must 

 guard him against enemies ; and there is the open 

 stretch of river to flee to. 



There are two theories among Indians and trappers 

 to account for the bank beaver's eccentricities. The 

 first is that he has failed to find a mate and leaves 

 the colony, or is driven out, to lead a lonely bachelor 

 life. His conduct during the mating season certainly 

 favors this theory, for never was anybody more dili- 

 gent in his search for a wife than he. Up and down 

 the streams and alder brooks of a whole wild country- 

 side he wanders without rest, stopping here and there 

 on a grassy point to gather a little handful of mud, 

 like a child's mud pie, all patted smooth, in the midst 



