Winter comes early to Mount McKinley National Park 
in Alaska. By September, when these photographs were 
taken, light snowfalls occasionally dust the countryside, 
and the vegetation has assumed the colors of autumn. In 
a few weeks, blasts of frigid Arctic winds will sweep the 
landscape, locking the area’s plant and animal life in 
cold storage. 
Beavers have evolved a variety of techniques for 
coping with the difficulties and dangers imposed by a 
long winter. In particular, by constructing dams, lodges, 
and canals and storing food, these animals are able to 
deal admirably with hard winter conditions. Dams, 
usually built to blockade streams, create the ponds that 
are necessary as refuges from predators, conduits to float 
food and building materials, and sites to store food for 
use in the winter. 
In preparation for the coming winter, this beaver is 
transporting willow branches to a cache in the pond. The 
branches will be anchored to the bottom, where they will 
stay until needed by the hungry rodent. Passing the 
winter in the security of its lodge, the beaver simply 
swims under water to the nearby cache and consumes 
enough willow bark to satisfy its needs. Then it’s back to 
the lodge and its insulated environment, safe from 
howling winds, subzero temperatures, and prowling 
predators. It is this scenario that, in a couple of months, 
will be replayed across the frozen reaches of the North. 
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