THE LIFE OF A BEAVER COLONY 117 
the leaves began to fall and carpet the earth with 
their varied and brilliant colours, but little har- 
vesting had been done. Perhaps they knew that 
aspens are easily cut and that far more material 
could be gathered in a given space of time than if 
large tough-wooded birches and maples were to 
furnish the supply. However that may be, the 
cutting of the aspens did not begin in earnest until 
November. Then, as though suddenly realising 
the lateness of the season, a vigorous attack was 
made on them. Over a dozen were felled in 
a single night. Each one was quickly stripped of 
its branches and cut into convenient lengths and 
in this way carried down piece by piece to the 
canal and through it floated down to the pond and 
then to the wood pile. In going down the canal, 
each piece of wood was lifted over the dams, 
which soon showed much sign of hard wear, so 
that constant repairs were necessary. The year 
and a half old beavers did nearly as much work as 
their parents, and for nights there was an almost 
constant procession coming and going between the 
lodge and the head of the canal. With astonish- 
ing rapidity the store grew, and it would have 
been difficult to estimate the number of cords of 
wood it contained. Even during the freezing 
nights, when ice formed on the still waters, the 
beaver continued their harvesting, frequently 
having to break the ice which formed along the 
canal. Finally, one evening, they came out of 
