The Fur Animals of Louisiana 259 



The interior of these houses are always damp, if not 

 actually wet, due to the admixture of muck and green vege- 

 tation used for building, and the interiors have pronounced 

 thermic qualities. Thus, when the weather outside is cold, 

 the interior is warm, and, in contradistinction, when the 

 weather is warm the interior is cool. Therefore, the simi- 

 larity to a thermos or "icy-hot" bottle is apparent. 



The house has these various uses: as a sleeping place, 

 as a retreat from natural enemies, and a nursery when 

 reproduction time is at hand. A pair of adults may occupy 

 the same house, two females, each with a litter have been 

 found under one roof, but it seems quite likely that when 

 the time for young arrives, the male is driven from the 

 domicile, and the mother isolates herself from the boar for 

 a matter of two weeks, possibly longer. Not until the young 

 are able to seek their own food will the female accept the 

 services of the male and the cycle of reproduction goes on 

 until the coming of the hot weather of late summer — July, 

 August and September — marks a cessation of breeding 

 activities. 



There seems to be no definite season for house building, 

 but it is evident that these activities are more pronounced 

 in the fall than at any other season of the year. 



Feeding Platforms 



As a builder the muskrat does not confine its abilities 

 in this direction to the erection of houses. In the so-called 

 deep marsh, where there is plenty of water on the ground, 

 one will find many "feeding platforms," places where the 

 animal will cut and lay a haphazard criss-cross of grass 

 stems to which it will swim with food held in its mouth 

 and, sitting on its haunches on the platform, will devour 

 its favorite food. These feeding platforms usually span a 

 water-covered runway, and the 'rat can gain its dry top 

 from one of two directions. 



When the water does not cover the marsh floor the 

 muskrat calls into play its skill as a subway engineer and 

 the terrain of humus is then netted with these under-the- 



