348 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



them in a manner that will work a minimum of harm to 

 them and to ourselves. We found in the early days of our 

 business that frequently the muskrat when handling them 

 by the approved manner — that is, by the tail — the animal 

 would turn, and, if I may use the expression, climb up its 

 tail and bite the hand holding it. To prevent this injury 

 we found that by slightly and quickly dropping the rat, 

 still holding fast to the tail, however, it would in turn 

 drop its body and head, an instinctive movement to ease 

 the fall to the ground which it instinctively expected. If 

 it again turns and attempts to repeat the climbing process, 

 go through the same dropping movements. 



"In first laying hands on a muskrat one should first 

 shoulder the animal, laying one hand flat on its back just 

 over the forelegs, holding it to the ground so it cannot turn 

 on you, and with the other hand obtain a firm grasp on the 

 tail and then gently lift it in the air. Rough handling of 

 these animals, by the tail or otherwise, is often the cause 

 of death. If we were grabbed by our leg and swung 

 around, our spine would be strained, and the same thing 

 happens to a muskrat if it is handled in a clumsy, awkward 

 manner, and these animals have very weak spines." 



The shipping of muskrats calls for care and intelligence, 

 these same fur farmers have ascertained, and have adopted 

 what they call a standard shipping crate. At first wooden 

 crates were used, but, as they had to be built of heavy 

 material, the shipping costs were in excess of what they 

 should be for practical commercial purposes. The crates 

 now used are light and very durable, and are built of wood 

 and wire cloth. They are 40 inches long, 24 inches wide, 

 8 inches deep, and have 10 compartments. The whole crate 

 holds 10 muskrats and has a shipping weight of about 12 

 pounds. The crates are made with four wooden partitions 

 running across the width, and the individual compartments 

 are made by having a division of wire cloth in each so as 

 to make two tiers of five compartments, each with a sepa- 

 rate door on the top. 



Considerable space has been given the matter of com- 

 mercially raising muskrats in pens in this bulletin, as it is 



