. The Canadian field-naturalist. May. 19361 THE Canadian Field-Naturalist 89. Adult beaver permanently confined in cramped and unnatural surroundings within earshot of running water and rustling poplar leaves. Photograph by Burt Gresham, I>Tix :md boL-cat are now extinct in the Riding Mountain; the fisher is virtually non-existent. B. ush wolves, though, still abound in varying numbers ,and only three otters have been seen or reported for a number of years. Only one presumed casualty from four-footed enemies was noted among the beavers under ob- servation,—a female whose carcass was found o
. The Canadian field-naturalist. May. 19361 THE Canadian Field-Naturalist 89. Adult beaver permanently confined in cramped and unnatural surroundings within earshot of running water and rustling poplar leaves. Photograph by Burt Gresham, I>Tix :md boL-cat are now extinct in the Riding Mountain; the fisher is virtually non-existent. B. ush wolves, though, still abound in varying numbers ,and only three otters have been seen or reported for a number of years. Only one presumed casualty from four-footed enemies was noted among the beavers under ob- servation,—a female whose carcass was found on the banks of Site No. 2 on June 19th, 1931, previously mentioned as dying from the result of wounds alleged to have been inflicted by otters who invaded the pond in the previous win- ter. That beaver fear the otter was evident from the conduct of the occupants of Site No. 1 when, in July, 1931, three individuals sojourned thereabouts and kept the beaver family together in the bank lodge until the unwelcome invaders departed elsewhere.* I have never observed evidence of even an attempt by four-footed predators to enter a beaver lodge at any season of the year, although I have seen tracks of the brush wolf on the snow-covered slopes of the lodges during the winter months. The otters who visited Site No. 1, in July, 1931, were about the slopes of the "bank" lodge as shown by the presence of *Can. Field-Naturalist, Vol. XLVI, p. 206, Ob- servations on the occurence of otter in the Riding Mountain National Park in relation to beaver life. By H. U. Green. otter excrement. However, as previously sug- gested, it would be difficult for any animal to capture the inmates by digging through the walls of the lodge, for quite naturally they would leave at the first hint of invasion. Otters, though, could easily gain an entrance by way of the submerged tunnels, but even then the beaverN would be able to leave the lodge by another exit, unless prevented by several otters seeking
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