OES 
26 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
must be wet, as his only entrance is through the 
water. It is obvious therefore that on emerging 
from the water they must dry themselves off very 
thoroughly before going near their beds or nests. 
The fact of their making these beds on a higher level 
shows that they use their intelligence and under- 
stand that water does not run uphill. If the 
bedding should get wet frequently it would be but 
a short time before it decayed, especially as there 
is not a superabundance of air in the houses. For- 
tunately the beaver has low respiration and conse- 
sequently needs very little ventilation in his home. 
On this account he can keep warm, and even 
during the cold winter weather, when the tempera- 
ture of the outside air is perhaps thirty or forty 
degrees below zero, the animal heat generated by 
the beaver is sufficient to keep the house com- 
fortable. This warmth and the lack of light and 
air has the disadvantage of causing troublesome 
parasites to thrive, much to the annoyance of the 
thickly-furred animals, and probably accounts for 
their so frequently using shredded wood for bedding. 
‘Softer material could be found, but it is doubtful 
whether it would be sanitary. 
The size of the material used on the outside of 
the lodges is most variable. As already stated, in 
some instances no sticks of appreciable size are to 
be found on the lodges. Then, again, regular logs 
or heavy poles are seen on the lodges. But logs 
or poles (whichever you like to call them, and it is 
