212 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



This, too, would indicate that our muskrat does not 

 have the number of litters a year that has been attributed 

 to the species, and as the matter of reproduction is of such 

 importance because of its direct relation to the future sup- 

 ply, considerable attention needs to be given it here. 



From experience and field studies it appears as most 

 probable that the Louisiana muskrat breeds throughout the 

 year ivith the exception of the hotter months of the late 

 summer. This may be the reason our trappers secure such 

 a large number of "mice" and "kits" when the trapping 

 season begins and is but another reason why the state's 

 lawmakers should forbid trapping before the first day of 

 December of each year and, if it is necessary to have a 

 75-day open season, the trapping of muskrats should be 

 allowed to continue to February 15. 



Because of the subtropical climate of Louisiana in the 

 winter months, there is no cessation of sexual activity 

 among the muskrats here such as prevails in the north 

 when the winter cold makes this animal inactive in almost 

 all matters. 



In Louisiana the exact opposite condition prevails. Ask 

 any experienced 'rat trapper and he will tell you that a 

 cold, snappy, frosty night means that the muskrats have 

 been active, on the go, and his round of the traps in the 

 morning will prove this by the large number of animals 

 he will dislodge from the traps. 



Following a warm, muggy night the trapper will know 

 that his traps will be unsprung when he makes his rounds 

 in the morning, as the animals he is after had been most 

 inactive when darkness shrouded the marshlands. 



Investigations during the past fifteen years indicate that 

 very little breeding is done during the months of August 

 and September, and that a large percentage of the females 

 taken during the winter months will show breeding indi- 

 cations, either by the appearance of the mammae which 

 have been suckled, or by the fetuses found in the uterine 

 horns. 



As the fur is prime only in the winter months, we can- 

 not, economically, arrange the trapping seasons at that 



