Show STRONGHOLD OF THE BEAVER Largest Colony In Existence Making a II aLast Last Stand In Fastnesses of Southern Southe J Far up In the fastnesses of ot the southern hidden In one of ot the most most dost Inaccessible nooks that remain In this country today what hat is probably probably probably proba proba- bly the largest existing colony of ot beaver beaver beav beav- er has established Itself for a last stand The beaver was once one of ot the most abundant of our American animals but the be the ease ase with which he was trapped and nd the value of his fur soon drove him film far on the road to extinction Soon only the most stringent of ot protective legislation was able to save him but now BOW he seems to be coming back and wherever he finds a favorable location lo 10 location cation he Increases rapidly There Is no better place In the world to study the interesting habits of ot this little animal than In that little hidden mountain valley Just south of the Colorado Colorado Col Col- orado line Une which the Mexicans have christened Lagunitas and the Americans Amen Ameri cans call caU Beaver Lakes The valley r nestles against the very backbone of ot ott t the continental divide feet above sea level and from every side sider r r. It t Is approachable only y long and toilsome forest travel except in wint winter win win- t t tt i ter tel when it Is not approachable at all aU The he hollow In the mountains' mountains crest t I is r dotted with Irregular rows and miniature minia ture cure ranges of hills two and three r. r hundred h feet high th that t make up a most bewildering topography In among these hills the beaver have 1 built them a city The landscape Is Ideal deal for the building of their dams und and by throwing barriers of stick and f f mud from hillside to hillside they have havo i treated created a dozen big lakes some of r them half a mile long Along the ff shores of these lakes are built the beavers lodges There are probably a thousand beaver in this community feigning reigning in undisputed supremacy over their mountain domain They are shy brutes but very early in tho the morning t.- t. kind nd Just at sunset you can often orten surprise surprise sur Bur prise them cutting the quaking aspen n n the bank with their chisel teeth or plastering away Industriously at one ono of f their elaborate dams |