🦫 The Busy Beaver's Dam

Down by the river, Rusty the cat heard a strange sound. Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw. Then a big splash! He crept closer through the tall grass to see what was happening.

There was a beaver, with a flat tail and big orange teeth, chewing through a thin tree. "Hello," said Rusty. "What are you doing?" "Building a dam," said the beaver. "I'm Bertha. Want to watch?"

Rusty sat on a rock. Bertha chewed the little tree until it fell over, then dragged it into the water. She swam with it to a pile of sticks and branches in the middle of the river and pushed it in place.

"Why are you building a dam?" asked Rusty. "To make a pond," said Bertha. "The dam slows the river down, so the water spreads out into a nice deep pond. Then I build my home, called a lodge, in the middle, where I'm safe and cozy."

She showed Rusty how she packed mud between the sticks to make the dam strong. She used her front paws like little hands. She slapped the mud with her flat tail. Slap, slap!

Over the next few weeks, Rusty visited every day. The dam grew bigger. The water rose behind it. Soon there was a beautiful pond where ducks came to swim, frogs sang and dragonflies zipped across the water.

"You made a home for lots of animals," said Rusty, amazed. "That's the best part," said Bertha proudly. "When I build my home, everyone gets a home."

Rusty sat on the edge of the pond and watched the ducklings paddle by. Birds sang in the reeds. He gave a happy purr. Bertha was the busiest, cleverest builder he had ever met.