Muskrat 



But in the late Indian summer comes their Wander-Jahre, 

 when they start out on their travels, roving and unsettled, ex- 

 ploring strange meadows and streams, at times all alone, and 

 again two or three families together; starting a new cabin here 

 or a burrow when the bank looks promising, and then moving 

 on again, leaving their work only half finished, until at last they 

 find the place that suits them best and settle down for the 

 winter, ready for months of fish-like living beneath the ice. In 

 the spring they are hunted and trapped for their fur, shot while 

 swimming in the swollen streams or resting on the banks; and 

 caught in steel traps set under water at their landing places; 

 sometimes a piece of apple, parsnip or carrot on the end of a 

 stick a foot above the trap seems to entice them into it. A still 

 more effective bait is the musk found on the old males at this 

 season. It is contained in two flat, oval sacs, an inch or more 

 in length, situated between the hind legs beneath and laid bare 

 when the skin is stripped off. 



This musk, which gives the animal its name, is so powerful 

 that professional trappers become fairly impregnated with the odour 

 in the course of the spring trapping. 



The muskrat's fur is a rich, shiny brown, with pale silky under- 

 fur like that of the beaver, only shorter and not so dense. 



In its natural state the fur is often made up into caps, etc., 

 and sold as mink and marten. Most of it, however, is plucked; 

 the long hair being removed and the silky underfur dyed to re- 

 semble seal. The fur sold as "electric seal" is really only musk- 

 rat fur dyed. 



Varieties of the Muskrat 



/. Mnskrat. Fiber ^ibethicus Linnaeus. Description and range as 



above. 

 2. Soullicrn Miishrcit. F. ^ibethicus rhalicns Bangs. Smaller and 



dull sooty in colour, " lacking all the beauty and lustre." 

 Range. Lower Mississippi Valley and Coasts of Alabama and 



Mississippi. 

 ). ^Dis.mal Swtimp Muskrat. F. ^ibethictis macrodon Merriam. 



Much darker and richer coloured than the common muskrat 



with larger teeth. 



Range. Dismal Swamp, Virginia. 

 4. LjhrjJor Mnshrat. F. qibethicus aqnilonius Bangs. Smaller 



and darker than the common muskrat. 



Range. Labrador. 



126 



