220 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



Who knows? Surely not those who have studied this 

 little animal here or elsewhere, for printed literature con- 

 tains nothing beyond conjecture. Dr. Johnson, after study- 

 ing the muskrat in New York, admits the difficulty of 

 answering the question, but adds that it is probably within 

 reason "to say that a muskrat may live as long as 10 years 

 or more." 



Close study of the Louisiana muskrat permits several 

 definite statements that approximate exactness in claiming 

 that our animal, at least the females, become sexually ma- 

 ture in six months, although they do not attain physical 

 maturity in less than a year or fourteen months. The num- 

 ber of undersized females, showing indications of having 

 been suckled or containing embryos, seems to prove this. 



The so-called oversized muskrats taken are not neces- 

 sarily very old specimens, or "grandpas," as the trappers 

 sometimes dub them, but merely fully matured specimens 

 that have taken on a great deal of fat. 



Difference in Sexes 



Sexual differences in coloration or in size are not evident 

 when examining a collection of live muskrats ; in fact, sex- 

 ing a live animal is a difficult matter, and a "sexing box" 

 is necessary to tell a boar from a sow unless one has little 

 regard for gnashed fingers. Scientific study of the muskrat 

 fails to show sexual differences in the skulls. 



There are, however, differences of pelage, size, and 

 market value of skins from various sections of this animal's 

 range in Louisiana. Muskrats from the southwestern 

 coastal marsh, Cameron parish, for example, are larger 

 and darker and command the best prices paid by dealers. 

 The animals, too, are known in the local raw pelt trade as 

 "Texas 'rats" and sold on the New York market as such, 

 although taken in Louisiana. The Lone Star State's pro- 

 duction in the 1926-1927 season was 30,000, while Louisi- 

 ana's output of muskrats the same year was in excess of 

 3,000,000. 



