The Fur Animals of Louisiana 



329 





A drying rack on the Orange-Cameron Land Company's 'rat ranch in Cameron parish. 

 This rack can cure 7(5,000 muskrat pelts at one loading. When the weather is right the 

 whole rack can be windlassed into the open; when the weather is damp, it is run on 

 tracks to the interior of the shed and curing is hastened by artificial heat. This large 

 drying plant has been abandoned in favor of smaller units scattered over the marsh. 



Professional — and, usually, unlettered — trappers are as 

 divided on this point as are the savants and trained nat- 

 uralists, so we must be content with the knowledge that 

 muskrats are prolific breeders, else how are marshes, de- 

 pleted year after year by vigorous trapping, replenished 

 in population before the opening of another season? 



Wherefore, this important matter must remain a ques- 

 tion to be answered after 'rat ranching gets into full swing 

 and opportunity has been given practical ranchers to solve 

 not only this problem but to definitely ascertain whether 

 or not the young of the first or spring litters themselves 

 mate and reproduce by fall. 



