232 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



The following will be found to be an excellent and in- 

 fallible guide : Hold the muskrat securely so that it cannot 

 bite and immediately in back of the tail, on the belly, will 

 be found the opening known as the anus. If the subject is 

 a female, there will be found the opening of the reproduc- 

 tive organ, known as the vagina. Next will be found the 

 external opening of the urinary system known as the 

 meatus urinarius. In a young female, at least until she has 

 had a litter of young, the vagina will be found closed, but 

 the position of the organ will be quite discernible because 

 of the fact that it is, at all times, bare of fur or hair. It 

 must be remembered, however, that until the female has 

 been bred that this organ is quite small, only slightly larger 

 than a wheat grain, but, in breeding season or out of it, this 

 bare spot shows quite plainly. 



The male muskrat, to the contrary, is well furred up 

 to and around the urinary protuberance. Therefore, the 

 sexing rule should be : two organs (anus and urinary integ- 

 ument) identify the male; three organs (anus, vagina and 

 urinary integument) identify a female in addition to the 

 lack of fur between the two organs already referred to 

 above. 



Food 



Muskrats are predominantly vegetable feeders. While 

 it is true they will eat animal matter, and at times they 

 devour the flesh of such individuals of their own kind as 

 they may find dead or wounded or helpless, this does not 

 take away from the fact that we should consider them her- 

 bivorous mammals like the beaver and the corpu, the other 

 two important fur rodents, that subsist on vegetable matter. 



The muskrat's food consists of the root systems of a 

 variety of plants growing in or about water; and as a 

 vegetarian they have a remarkable menu to choose from 

 on the coastal marshes of Louisiana. And while in Mani- 

 toba, in New York state and elsewhere in the north and east 

 two species of cattails stand out preeminently as the food, 

 in Louisiana three species of Scirpus, the so-callsd three- 

 cornered grasses, are the principal foods relished by these 

 animals. 



