100 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
“ It certainly would! ” “ Do, Uncle John! ” 
came from the boys. 
“ While several families live in one ‘ lodge,’ 
each has its own quarters and private door, 
and there is no door of communication between 
the various homes. The beds are built along the 
wall, of moss, grass, and small twigs. The center 
of the room is left empty and is kept very clean. 
Beavers lived originally in the watered wood¬ 
lands all over North America and in the Old 
World, being most plentiful about the wild 
wooded lakes of our northern states and Canada, 
and in Norway and Siberia. The wholesale de¬ 
struction of the beavers has nearly wiped them out 
of their old haunts, but now thanks to protective 
laws they are slowly being won back in many 
parts, particularly in the swampy forest head¬ 
waters about the Mississippi and in northern 
Maine. They take quite well to confinement, and 
are to be found flourishing in colonies in zoolog¬ 
ical gardens and parks in New York, Washing¬ 
ton, and other large cities. According to Woods, 
beavers confined in a room have been known to 
build dams across their quarters, using brushes, 
books, fire-irons, boots, and anything else they 
could find, proving plainly that their marvelous 
building ingenuity is not founded on reason but 
on instinct. 
“ Usually a litter of four baby beavers are pro- 
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