III.

The Lodge

Beavers are social animals. In areas where food is abundant and the locality secluded, the number of families in a beaver community is rather large. The so-called beaver lodge is a unique structure, although not all beavers build them. Three distinct kinds exist, their differences depending on whether they are built on islands, on the banks of ponds, or on the shores of lakes. The island lodge consists of a central chamber, with its floor a little above the level of the water, and with two entrances. One of these, the “wood entrance”, is a straight incline rising from the water, opening into the floor of the hut. The other approach, the “beaver entrance”, is more abrupt in its descent to the water. The lodge itself is an oven-shaped house of sticks, grass, and moss, woven together and plastered with mud, increasing gradually in size with year after year of repair and elaboration. The room inside may measure 2.4 m (8 ft) wide and up to 1 m (39 in) high. The floor is carpeted with bark, grass, and wood chips, sometimes with special storerooms adjoining. The pond lodge is built either a short distance from the edge of the bank, or partly hanging over it, with the front wall built up from the bottom of the pond. The lake lodge is built on the shelving shores of lakes.