230 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



Sex Determination 



It is necessary to make a close examination of the ex- 

 terior sexual organs of a live muskrat to determine the sex 

 absolutely, as the boar and sow resemble one another in 

 all other respects. The best method yet devised for holding 

 the animal so that such an examination can be made, with- 

 out unnecessary struggling on the part of the subject, and 

 gnashed fingers on the part of the examiner, appears to be 

 the "sexing box," or examining funnel. One such is a 

 commercial apparatus called the "No-bite Examining Fun- 

 nel," which is shown in the accompanying illustration. It 

 is made by the Flat Creek Fur Farm, Huntington, Ind., 

 and sold for $1.50, postage prepaid. 



One style of sexing box sold commercially for examin- 

 ing muskrats to determine a male from a fernale without 

 injury to the examiner. The animal is placed in head first 

 and the hind legs are secured by the spring clothes-pins 

 so they cannot scramble out. 



In using a sexing funnel to determine the sex, hold the 

 funnel in the left hand, have the muskrat to be examined 

 hanging by the tail in the right hand, insert the animal 

 head first into the funnel, and, if the No-bite is being used, 

 fix the clothespins to each hind leg so that the animal cannot 

 struggle out backwards. If the animal, being held by the 

 tail before being inserted in the funnel, attempts to double 

 back and bite, make a dropping motion (still holding fast 

 to the tail), and the muskrat will immediately straighten 

 out. It does this involuntarily, as it expects to be dropped 

 to the ground. 



