, but
sometimes, when the lower dam backs the water up to the large one, the
beavers will, in the fall after the ice has formed, dig a passage
through the upper dam, which allows the water to fall and leaves an air
space between the water and the ice, and it is perhaps for this reason
that the smaller dams are constructed.

Somewhere on the edge of the pool where the water is not too deep, the
beavers make their lodge, or house. These houses sometimes rise eight
feet above the water and will measure fifteen feet in diameter. They are
constructed of the same materials as used for the dam, and are always
repaired and strengthened before freezing weather comes. There are two
entrances to the house and they are always located deep under water.

The food of the beaver consists principally of bark of poplar, birch,
willow, cottonwood, alder and wild cherry. They are also fond of the
roots of the water lily. In the South it is said that they quite often
feed on corn, when located near the farms. They would doubtless eat many
kinds of roots and vegetables if same could be procured. In some few
sections, where the nature of the stream is such that houses and dams
are not a success, the beavers live in holes in the bank of the stream
and are called "bank beavers"; however, they are the same variety as the
house building kind.

In the Northern districts, where the ponds are covered with ice six
months of the year, the beavers spend the entire winter under the ice.
For this long period of imprisonment they must lay up a large store of
food. This food consists of small, green saplings and brush, cut into
suitable lengths and stored under water, in front of the house. They eat
only the bark and the peeled sticks are used to repair the house and
dam. The young beavers are born in April and May and there are usually
only two at a birth, but sometimes there will be three. These young
animals remain two years with the parents, so that a full family will
consist of the two old ones, two or three medium size and two or three
small beavers. However, there are "bachelor beavers", old males who
always live alone, and have a small house somewhere along the shore of a
stream or pond.

It was the beaver that was most sought by the early trappers, for the
fur was more in demand than the fur of any other animal. At present it
is not as popular as in days of old, but we do not believe that its
value will decrease, as the catch becomes lighter e