214 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 
Tracks of six muddy-footed fellows on the 
snow at the outer end of the successful tunnel 
told the number who survived the winter’s 
food-shortage. Spring came, and warmth and 
flood water broke up the ice on the pond about 
a month after they escaped. No young bea- 
vers were seen. These surviving beavers lived 
in bank holes along the stream until summer. 
Then they wandered away. Late that August 
they, or six other beavers, came to the place. 
They completed the dam and repaired the house, 
and by mid-October had a huge pile of food 
stored in the pond for the winter. 
