An episode appeared twice a month
in The Michigan Farmer magazine.
Flattail Is Rescued
"What happened to Flattail? Did he get killed? Did you take the
tree off of him?" Jerry asked excitedly as he climbed into the
tower the next day.
"Now, now, not so fast, young fellow," Uncle Joe said. "One
question at a time. And here's the story.
"Flattail lay there for a minute with the breath knocked right
out of him. The tree wasn't very large, but it was quite large compared
to the size of a young beaver. I couldn't see him very well for there
were leaves on the trees. But I knew that down there somewhere beneath
the leaves Flattail was still alive. He was trying to get out from under
the tree, and by struggling he made the whole tree shake.
"There were other things besides the tree being on top of him
to make Flattail struggle. He had a number of enemies, including the
fox, the wolf, and the bear, who would be only too glad to pick a nice,
fat, young beaver out from under the tree. The crows had already seen
the accident and they were gathering for the feast they were sure was
coming. Flattail, of course, couldn't know all of these things, being
a young beaver. But he did know that he was caught.
"The tree shook less with each try until finally there was little
motion. He was growing tired and weak."
"Didn't you go to help Flattail, Uncle Joe?" Jerry asked
anxiously.
Uncle Joe shook his head. "I didn't go to help Flattail, although
it is part of my work. I didn't need to. Flattail didn't know it, but
help was already on the way. It had been on the way since the tree had
fallen upon him."
Uncle Joe paused and turned to question Jerry. "Do you know who
or what it was that was on the way to help Flattail?" he asked.
Jerry shook his head. "I don't know unless Mrs. Spence had started
out to help."
"No," Uncle Joe replied, "it wasn't Mrs. Spence. It
was the beavers themselves. When they heard the tree fall, they knew
something was wrong. They didn't know whether it was an enemy or a friend.
They didn't stop to find out, but ran and jumped into Friendly Creek
and swam down to the safety of the deeper water. Then cautiously, very
cautiously, they began to come up on the other side of the creek. They
were very timid about being on land and when anything unusual happens
they keep pretty well to the water.
"Gradually, as nothing happened, the beavers moved down Friendly
Creek in the direction in which they had heard the tree fall. They moved
very carefully, keeping under water as much as possible, and close to
the bank and bushes which hung over the water.
"It was almost five minutes before they came to the point where
Flattail was held down by the tree. By that time Flattail lay quiet
for he was very, very tired.
"When the beavers saw what had actually happened, they climbed
up on the shore and began chewing away on the tree. Off came a limb.
Off came a second limb. Soon I could see Flattail. In a very short time
the beavers had chewed the tree into pieces and Flattail crawled painfully
out from under the remaining piece."
"Was he hurt much, Uncle Joe?" Jerry asked.
"Yes, he was hurt and pretty badly. He was able to swim feebly
and the other beavers helped him along. They reached the lodge about
twenty minutes later.
"It was about ten days or two weeks later when I next saw Flattail,"
Uncle Joe concluded. "When I did see him he was playing tag with
an enemy; one of the most remarkable games I have ever seen."
Click HERE to read "A Dangerous
Game of Tag"
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© 2004 Leo VanMeer
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