198 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



Until 1895, the Louisiana muskrat was suuposed to be 

 identical with the muskrat of the eastern United States, but 

 Dr. Outram Bangs, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 

 of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., in that year de- 

 scribed the specimens collected on Burbridge plantation, 

 near Belair, Plaquemines parish, as differing from the 

 common muskrat and named our race Fiber zibethicus rival- 

 icius, giving it a subspecific rank. Later investigations 

 proved that it differed from the other muskrats of the 

 North American continent in such a degree that it was 

 entitled to a full specific standing, and then became Fiber 

 rivalicus, the specific name meaning "river loving." 



The Louisiana Muskrat 



The Louisiana muskrat is the most southerly distributed 

 species or form in North America, being found only in the 

 southern part of the state, as has already been pointed out, 

 with a few in eastern Texas in an area bounded on the 

 east by the Sabine river, on the north by a line 20 miles 

 south of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks, on the west 

 by a line 40 miles west of the Sabine, and on the south by 

 the Gulf of Mexico. The few found in the state of Missis- 

 sippi are located in the marshy stretches adjacent to Pearl 

 River, although it appears they once inhabited the Pasca- 

 goula Bay marshes in some numbers. 



Being the most southerly distributed muskrat is the 

 reason, perhaps, that its pelt is known to the fur trade as 

 "Southern Rat," but considering the enormous production 

 of this animal by this state, it should in the future carry 

 the more correct designation of "Louisiana Muskrat," by 

 which it was known to the fur trade fifteen years and more 

 ago. 



Although handicapped by a common name that is a 

 misnomer — f or it is not a rat, if we liken all animals bear- 

 ing this designation to the common house rat — it has gained 

 popular favor among the fur wearers. While sporadic at- 

 tempts have been made to rename it, the name muskrat 

 continues and so popular has become its fur that even the 

 name "muskrat" is becoming stylish. 



