THE BEAVERS OF NORTH AMERICA 47 
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to baffle them. I saw an instance in Newfoundland 
which may be worth repeating: a small colony of 
beaver were engaged in building a dam across a 
swift stream about forty feet in width. Before 
the work was quite finished, so that the dam had 
not yet settled enough to gain its proper strength, 
there came a great rain which continued for several 
days and flooded the country. The beavers, seeing 
that their new dam was threatened with immediate 
destruction, came down during the night and made 
a large opening by cutting away the sticks. This 
allowed the water to escape and so the dam was 
saved. No sooner had the water resumed its 
normal level than the little engineers closed the 
break they had made and continued the structure 
to its completion. For fear that I might have been 
mistaken and that the opening had been made by 
the force of the water, I examined it carefully and 
found the tooth-marks on the sticks showing with- 
out doubt where the animals had cut them away: 
and it is of interest to note that Father Jouvency, 
as long ago as 1610—13, made note of this same 
thing being done. He says: “ But if the river 
swell more than is safe, they break open some part 
of the structure, and let through as much water 
as seems sufficient.” 
The more we study the beaver dams the more 
we must recognise the care exercised in the 
selection of their sites. Everything seems to be 
considered and every advantage is taken of the 
