Charles D. Emerson, age 8, of Tucson, Ariz. For his question:

How long can a beaver stay under water?

Mr. Beaver is an excellent swimmer and diver. What’s more, he has a trick or two to fool you about how long he can swim under water. Watch him slip silently into his stream, There’s no sign of him, so he must be swimming along under the surface. But where is he? Surely he must come up for air, it’s now five, ten, twenty minutes since he went under,

Don't hold your breath until you see him again, He most certainly is not holding his breath all this tme, Actually he found an underwater entrance to his house. He ‑paddled up a damp tunnel until he reached his warm, dry livingroom. Right now he is in a chamber under that pile of sticks you see poking up like an island in the stream,

The beaver is an air‑breathing animal. He can stay below water no longer than he can hold his breath which may be a minute or two. He may also fool you by poking up his furry little face just far enough to take a breath of air. All you see then is a ripple on the water.