2 88 



RECREATION. 



THE FIRST AND SECOND PONDS, LOOKING WEST TOWARD 

 THE ASPEN WOOD, AT PRESENT FEEDING THE COLONY. 



— the only pole I saw used. This dam con- 

 tains between 200 and 300 tons of material. 

 The mud for it is dug out of the bottom 

 of the pond and so deepens the water in 2 



with sharp, hard edges 

 and has a most artificial 

 look. It ends abruptly at 

 the foot of the bank and 

 then the path, sharply de- 

 fined, continues on to the 

 woods 145 feet farther 

 and 30 feet higher up. 



The landing-places in- 

 dicated are short canals 

 with raised mud or sod 

 wharfs at the end, and 

 usually paths leading 

 away. They are found 

 chiefly on the West side, 

 as there is no food on the 

 Eastern bank. 



Several of the paths lead 

 only to anthills. These 

 are the work of a small, 

 wholly black ant, are 

 about 2 feet high, and are 

 used by the beaver either 

 as lookouts or else as re- 

 sorts where he can lie in the sun and give 

 the ants a chance to pick the > vermin off 

 from him. 



There is but one house, and this is in. 

 the large pond. It seems about 5 feet high 

 and 25 feet in diameter, above water; but 

 I could not get to it without swimming. 

 My salary does not justify wading above 



<2t ^~: 



NUMBER 25. — SECOND SECTION OF THE 

 BEAVER POND. 150 YARDS IN LENGTH. 



ways. In taking the height I measured al- 

 ways from the bottom of the water, im- 

 mediately below the dam. 



No holes were found in the banks. They 

 may have been overlooked, but as one side 

 of the pond is rocky cliff and the other level 

 marsh I suspect the central moated citadel 

 is the only refuge. 



The canals are numerous, but the great 

 70-footer, leading West from the second 

 pond, is of chief interest. It is the high- 

 way to the feeding grounds; is clean cut, 



D6VCW 



INSTANTANEOUS SKETCHES OF THE PO- 

 SITIONS IN SLAPPING AND DIVING. 



my knees, so I did not get accurate meas- 

 urements. 



As to the beaver themselves (I'm so 

 much interested in their work I had nearly 

 forgotten them) I saw 4 at one time, and 

 think that is all there are. One big fellow 



