THE BEAVERS OF NORTH AMERICA 55 
one beaver stays some distance away and watches 
the top. At the first intimation of its falling, he 
signals by either slapping the ground or the water 
with his tail and the others immediately run away. 
Unfortunately, I have never been an eye-witness 
of such a performance, and even though I have 
heard many trees being felled—some within forty 
yards of my camp—I have never heard the signal, 
nor have I seen the beaver on watch. Besides 
which, it scarcely seems reasonable that the animal 
while cutting should need any notice of the tree 
falling. With his teeth against the wood, the 
creaking sound of even the beginning of the fall 
would be very evident, even if he did not hear the 
top brushing against the other trees on its down- 
ward path. Animals do not do unnecessary things, 
and this warning certainly seems unnecessary even 
though it may be true. That the beavers remain 
fairly quiet for a few minutes after a tree has 
crashed to earth is quite possible, though it is not 
by any means always done, while the explanation 
usually offered does not sound altogether right. 
Why should the sound of a falling tree attract 
enemies? Such sounds are only too common in 
the forests, and the noise made by the biting of 
the wood is so loud that even a man with his 
dulled sense of hearing can distinguish it many 
hundred yards away on a still night. Jf the 
beaver does stay motionless after the crash there 
is probably some other reason—possibly it is for 
