102 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
to make a meal. The Indians foretell the length 
of winter by the size of the beavers’ store. One 
authority cites a certain colony of beavers which 
gathered seven hundred and thirty-two sapling 
aspens and several hundred willows for the com¬ 
ing winter, forming a pile over three feet deep 
and one hundred and twentv-four feet in circum- 
ference. Roots of water-lilies and other aquatic 
plants are also stored to a considerable extent. 
“ Of course, in the case of a large beaver 
colony, the shrubs and trees along the water’s 
edge are in time destroyed. Fresh bark for their 
food supplies needs must be had, however, and the 
little people meet the demand most ingeniously. 
Going above their dam, they begin the construc¬ 
tion of an extensive canal system, and in a few 
years’ time their canals penetrate the woodland 
in every direction. These are often dredged to a 
considerable depth, and range from two to three 
feet in width and are often one hundred yards in 
length. The beavers take pains to keep them 
free and open, and thus, while the rest of the 
4 pond ’ becomes gradually grown up with water 
plants, the canals form an avenue along which 
new lodges and burrows are placed, and where 
food and building materials may be freely floated 
down to the main channel.” 
