28 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
say the house, whose base was only a foot or so 
above the ordinary water-line, was entirely sub- 
merged, but though the current was swift and con- 
tinued for several weeks with this unusual depth of 
water, the structure of the house remained almost 
intact, only the loose earth and sod being washed 
saway. Of course the beaver had to abandon their 
home, and they sought temporary shelter in a high 
bank beneath the roots of some fir trees. Acci- 
dents such as these are of frequent occurrence 
when the lodges are built on the banks of rivers, 
as the beaver have no control over the depth of 
water, and such lessons have taught the intelligent 
animals the advantage of making dams which 
maintain a more or less constant water: level. 
They learn by sad experience and when they dis- 
regard such lessons they have usually to pay heavily 
for their mistakes. 
The river-bank lodges or highly-developed 
burrows are frequently subject to disaster 
through rising water, and may be regarded as 
the work of beavers whose intelligence is some- 
what below normal. It is well worth observing 
that these bank lodges or burrows are most often 
the homes of solitary beaver, those who, perhaps, 
through their lower development have been turned 
out of the colonies to shift for themselves. It is 
possible, of course, that they are only afflicted 
with the curse of laziness, but this is doubtful, as 
it is a somewhat rare fault in wild animals. We 
