Show BEAVER AN EXPERT WORKER little animal excels lumber jacks as tree fellers and Is a prize dam builder the most expert lumber jack Is inferior to the beiver beaver as a tree feller felle are he I 1 cuts down trees fir birthe the roost most be scientific way tt ay he can fell a tree so it will fall all toward the pond where he wishes to construct ills home thus saving himself unnecessary work after tile the trees are felled the construction st he works chiefly by night for lie he Is a nocturnal prowler the afie moon Is his lani lantern landern ern the quiet of the night his inspiration his sharp teeth archis are his hatchet and chisel chise 1 and his little paws are his means of conveyance his spade his lin hammer nimer inq ills his trowel ills his hard flat fiat hairless and scaly tall Is a propeller when swimming and a balance when he Is cutting timber for he stands on hla his hind legs while gnawing down trees the beaver Is a strict vegetarian and his diet consists chiefly of barks tender shoots and water plants the trees frees which furnish the bark lie he most likes are the cottonwood poplar elm willo birch aspen alpen and boxelder box elder the bark of the oak ash and hickory he does not eat to flood low ir ground round the beavers sometimes have to build a dam exceeding 50 feet in length they usually lay it out with the curve facing ud stream the foundation Is IB built of poles four or five feet long by an inch or two twi thick these they lay crossw crosswise filling all crevices with mu ld d the beaver digs up mud with his bis fore feet then holds it close to his breast with his tore fore legs swims to lo where he has started ills his dam and having deposited it ft in its pr proper oper place beats the mud down with ills his paws not with ills hla tall as has been believed belleferd belle fed 11 st nicholas |