Karim: Mr. Beaver, you said that you construct the dam to build a home. But I cannot see anything that looks like a home. There is only a pile of logs. Where do you build your home?
Mr. Beaver: You are right. You cannot see our home from the outside. We build it like this on purpose so that it is a safe haven. While constructing the dam, we also prepare our home on the banks of the pond, close to the shore. Our home looks like a pile of wood from the outside. But this should not fool you; we design the inside carefully. First of all, security is of great importance to us. For that is why the only entrance to our home is underwater. Of course, not everyone can easily enter it. We pass through secret tunnels to go in and out.
  You must be asking yourself, "What is this pile of branches in the water for?" This picture shows the part of a beaver's house, which is above the surface of the water. |
Karim: This is great. Your house is like a castle surrounded by ditches. It is virtually impossible to enter.
Mr. and Mrs. Beaver laugh at Karim's remark.
Mr. Beaver: The tunnel leads to an inside chamber. We ensure that this chamber is above the water level. Our family lives in this dry, secure chamber. Sometimes we build two-storey houses, in which the entrance and living room are on the first floor, and the dining room and bedroom on the second. The houses we build have two underwater entrances and a ventilation channel on the top. In this way, besides being secure from exterior dangers, we also live in comfort.
Karim: This is a marvellous thing. It does not appear to have a lodge beneath; it looks as if it is merely a pile of logs and branches. This is surely a remarkable arrangement. I have another question: what is the depth of this pond? From here it looks quite deep.
Mr. Beaver: It is sometimes as deep as 3 or 4 metres. Actually, we don't need such deep water to build our homes. But the surface of the pond freezes in winter and a thick layer of ice forms over it. If the water is not deep enough, the freezing progresses downwards until the entire pond freezes solid. Of course, in that case, we would not be able to move around in the pond. So we deepen the pond as much as possible. Then even if the surface freezes, there is still a layer of water at the bottom of the pond, which is sufficient for us to move and feed in.
Imran: You see, Karim. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver know very well what they are doing. If we were to build a home in the lake, maybe none of these details would occur to us. But our friends think ahead and work at what to do. Surely it is Allah who equips them with the talents to consider such fine details and teaches them what they should do.
  Beavers swim through a tunnel to enter their lodge. Only beavers know about this tunnel. |
Once again Karim thinks about his sister, who, as you already know, is a civil engineer. She has had years of education and has worked hard to be an engineer. Karim remembers the day when he went to her room and looked at her school work. Until then he had thought that she had been drawing things like buildings, bridges, etc. He was surprised when he saw her work and could not understand anything. What she was doing was very demanding, difficult and complicated. There were so many lines and figures on the paper that he could not even understand what they signified. He asked his sister what they were, and was amazed when he learned that a building would be built according to these drawings.
   Beavers are very intelligent animals. When their lodge is damaged, they realize it at once and repair it, as seen in the picture on the right.Preparing for winter is another demonstration of the intelligence of beavers. Even if the lodge is covered with snow or the surface of the pond freezes, beavers live in their homes in comfort thanks to the precautions they took in advance. |
Until that day, Karim had not thought that civil engineering could be so difficult. Besides, his sister had told him that she was merely dealing with the design of the building. In the following stages, workers would come into play and would build the building, using various tools and materials.
Karim: This is very interesting. You build your home according to a plan previously made just as Zainab does. Every single thing you do shows great wisdom. I remember my sister working hard for hours making those complicated calculations...
Imran: You are right. I think about Zainab too. But our little friends do the hard work of workers as well as what Zainab does. This also shows the awesome skills Allah has granted to them. However, little friends, it's time for us to go back to the camp now. Thank you very much for everything. You've given us answers to all the questions Karim was curious about. Now we must say good-bye.
Karim: I'd like to thank you, too. I've enjoyed our chat a lot. But I don't want to say good-bye. I'd like to visit you frequently, if you don't mind.
Mr. and Mrs. Beaver: Bye-bye, Karim. Of course you may visit us whenever you wish. You may want to see our house completed. Bye-bye.
Karim is amazed by the tasks these pretty beavers carry out. Now that his questions have been answered, he wants to return to the camp to tell others about what he has learnt.
