The Fur Animals of Louisiana 265 



Under the state laws the firing of marshes or other 

 lands is strictly forbidden, but owners of lands may set 

 such fires for the purpose of improving food conditions for 

 wild life, but only under permit and supervision of the 

 department of conservation officers, and then such author- 

 ized burnings shall not be done during the breeding season 

 of wild bird life. 



In marsh fires two things are to be considered : damage 

 to wild life from burning at unpropitious times, and the 

 hazards of allowing accumulations of dead grasses to re- 

 main on the marshlands waiting to be fired by agencies over 

 which there can be no control. 



All marshland fires are not from human agencies. Light- 

 ning, during the late summer months, frequently strikes 

 masses of dead vegetation and the marsh is soon ablaze 

 with a fire that cannot be stopped. When such a bolt ig- 

 nites the marsh grasses it is usually during a protracted 

 dry spell and damage to the muskrat population invariably 

 results. 



An economic solution to the marsh fire problem, there- 

 fore, remains to be worked out. 



If the marshes are fired when the ground is wet, the 

 growth of many of the best muskrat food grasses is almost 

 instantly renewed. Especially is this true of the three- 

 cornered grasses. The rooting systems, when they are cov- 

 ered by wet earth, are not harmed, but appear to send up 

 stalks with renewed vigor. 



It seems to be the consensus of opinion among practical 

 trappers that it is impossible to kill out certain grasses that 

 are not valuable as muskrat food by firing. Great stands 

 of cut grass (Zizaniopsis communis) have been burned reg- 

 ularly in Cameron parish in an effort to rid the land of the 

 growth, but after several regular firings it seemed that the 

 cut grass came back thicker than before. 



Enemies 



There are many natural enemies to the muskrat in 

 Louisiana, which is not strange when one realizes that this 

 animal is so abundant and that its marsh habitat is the 

 haunt of so many other forms of wild life. 



