Here was formerly the outlet; and here the beavers built
their dam, and so made the old lake over again. It must be a
wonderfully fine place in summer--two or three thousand acres of
playground, full of cranberries and luscious roots. In winter it is
too shallow to be of much use, save for a few acres about the beavers'
doorways.
There are three ways of dam-building in general use among the beavers.
The first is for use on sluggish, alder-fringed streams, where they
can build up from the bottom. Two or three sunken logs form the
foundation, which is from three to five feet broad. Sticks, driftwood,
and stout poles, which the beavers cut on the banks, are piled on this
and weighted with stones and mud. The stones are rolled in from the
bank or moved considerable distances under water. The mud is carried
in the beaver's paws, which he holds up against his chin so as to
carry a big handful without spilling. Beavers love such streams, with
their alder shade and sweet grasses and fringe of wild meadow, better
than all other places. And, by the way, most of the natural meadows
and half the ponds of New England were made by beavers. If you go to
the foot of any little meadow in the woods and dig at the lower end,
where the stream goes out, you will find, sometimes ten feet under the
surface, the remains of the first dam that formed the meadow when the
water flowed back and killed the trees.
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