328 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



The big drying rack, which runs on rails, is worked in and out of the shed by a windlass 



and steel cables. 



seph S. Dixon found that the average number of embryos 

 in 23 pregnant females to have been 6, with 3 and 9 as ex- 

 tremes. An exhibition female muskrat, shown by the 

 Mount Forest Muskrat Farm, gave birth to a litter of 16 

 while in the Detroit offices of this concern, according to 

 Mr. Bangs. The number of litters a season delivered by a 

 female muskrat has aroused as much discussion and debate 

 as has the question of the number of young to a litter 

 David Lantz, of the Bureau of Biological Survey, in 1917, 

 made the assertion that it was a "well-established fact" 

 that muskrats breed from three to five times a year, but 

 supplied no evidence to back the assertion. Other investi- 

 gators and writers have made similar guesses and state- 

 ments on this point, and their statements indicate a range 

 from two litters a year to as many as eight. But still no 

 uncontroverted evidence is at hand to prove this definitely 

 — not even from Louisiana. 



