The Fur Animals of Louisiana 261 



When extra dry weather comes and the surface waters 

 of the marsh evaporate, water is necessary and the animals 

 become virtually well-diggers, going two feet and more 

 beneath the top of the marsh floor for moisture. When 

 digging, the fore paws do the greater share of the exca- 

 vating, the broader and stronger hind legs pushing out of 

 the hole the dislodged dirt and muck. 



While it is quite evident that the muskrat is a hard, in- 

 defatigable worker, it is equally apparent that there is a 

 great waste of energy in what it does in tunnel digging and 

 in a number of other activities and one wonders why it 

 does a number of things. But it does them just the same. 



Cleanly in what and how it eats, the muskrat is very 

 clean in a number of other habits. Excrement is seldom 

 if ever voided in the houses, in sleeping nests, or on the 

 feeding platforms. In going through the heavily populated 

 marshes frequently there is found defecating spots used by 

 one or more individuals and possibly through many seasons. 



In its building and tunneling activities the muskrat has 

 been compared to the beaver. This latter rodent has been 

 recognized as one of the most intelligent of animals and 

 many tales have been told of its engineering skill. "Shall 

 not the muskrat be credited with an equal display of in- 

 telligence?" asks Dr. Charles E. Johnson, author of that 

 very valuable "The Muskrat in New York," who believes 

 when the relative size of the builders is kept in mind, the 

 energy, industry, and intelligent behavior of the muskrat 

 appear in every way equal to those credited to the beaver. 

 "The muskrat does not build dams," he observes. "If this 

 one feat had been added to its accomplishments the musk- 

 rat would doubtless have been the object of the same 

 amount of attention, wonderment and admiration as has 

 been bestowed upon the beaver." 



Our field biologist recites an interesting occurrence re- 

 lating to the mother instinct of the muskrat and her young 

 in the nest. He found a house which contained two young 

 and, hoping to catch the parent, placed a live trap in the 

 nest, using the babies as bait, with the expectation that 

 the mother would come to her young and be thus caught. 



