The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations

The subsequent chronology of that beaver house is as follows: Nov. 10. The beavers pulled all our brush away from the house, back to a distance of six or seven feet. The house stood fully exposed. Nov. 11. They began to pile up mud and sticks against the base of the south wall. Nov. 15. Mud-building to cover the house was in full progress. Nov. 17. Much of our brush had been placed in the stock of food wood being stored for winter use in the pond west of the house. Nov. 29. The outside of the house was completely covered up to the edges of the roof. The beavers were working fast and hard. No freezing weather yet. Dec. 15. The roof was not yet covered. Ice had formed on the pond, and house-building operations were at an end until the spring of 1922.