There are few animals that can teach us more useful lessons than the
beaver.
[Illustration]
They are very timid animals. If we went to places where they are
common, it would be very difficult to find them and see what they do.
The beaver is between two and three feet long, and one foot high, and
is covered with brown hair. Its eyes are very small and far apart; its
ears also are small and its nose blunt. It has very strong, sharp
teeth, and a long tail shaped somewhat like the blade of an oar. This
tail has no hair or fur on it, but is covered with little scales like
those of a fish. The hind feet of the beaver have a thin skin between
the toes. This shows that the beaver is fitted for swimming. During the
summer these animals live in holes near the banks of rivers. They are
very social animals. They never live alone. They usually go in parties,
and build a little “beaver town.” They have some means of making known
their wants to each other. They know they will be safer in water than
on land, so they try to find a pond where they can build their town. If
they can not do this, they will choose a running stream with some trees
on the banks.
The first thing they do, is to make a dam, right across the stream.
They have neither saws nor hatchets with which to cut down the trees;
but they use their sharp, strong teeth, and gnaw and gnaw away, until
they bring down tree after tree. These little wood-cutters know very
well how to do this; otherwise the trees might fall and kill them. When
they have gnawed nearly through the trunk, away they run to see if the
tree is beginning to bend. If it is still straight, they set to work
again; but the moment they hear it crack, off they run to keep out of
danger.
When the tree is down, they gnaw off all the branches in the same way,
and then cut the trunk into short pieces, and roll them down to the
water’s edge. Then they go to work at another tree, and still another,
until they have cut down all they want. These logs of wood, kept in
their places by mud and stones, make a dam, and this dam stops the
water and causes it to rise around their houses and cover the openings
which are at the bottom, and helps to keep them safe from danger.
Then the houses are built of mud, stones, sticks, and small branches
twined in and out to keep them fast. These houses are several feet high
and are very thick. There are two rooms in them, one at the bottom,
under water, which they use for a store-room, and the other, at the
top, above the water, for a living-room. The floor of this room is
covered with soft moss.
But these wise beavers know that they must have a store of food for the
winter, as well as a snug little house to live in. They gather logs of
wood and branches, and put them away in their store-room. The bark of
these logs and some water plants supply them with food. When they are
“at home” during the winter months in their “beaver town,” they always
have a sentinel to keep watch, and if any one comes near, he gives the
alarm by striking the water with his broad, flat tail.
There are no idle beavers. They not only work hard, but with great
skill and care.
_Phrase Exercise._
1. Useful lessons.--2. Where they are _common_.--3. The
_blade_ of an oar.--4. _Social_ animals.--5. Usually go in
parties.--6. _Right_ across the stream.--7. If it is still
straight.--8. _Stops_ the water.--9. _Twined_ in and out.--10.
For a living-room.--11. A _store_ of food.--12. He gives the
alarm.--13. _Supply_ them with food.--14. They have a _sentinel
to keep watch_.--15. Work with great skill and care.