Its house has an arched dome-like roof, of an elliptical figure, and rises from three to four feet above the surface of the water.

It is always entirely surrounded by water; but, in the banks adjacent, the animal provides holes or _washes_, of which the entrance is below the surface, and to which it retreats on the first alarm.
"The female beaver usually produces two young at a time, but not unfrequently more.

During the first year, the young remain with their parents.

In the second, they occupy an adjoining apartment, and assist in building, and in procuring food.

At two years old, they part, and build houses of their own; but often rove about for a considerable time before they fix upon a spot.