270 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



The chief damage done by the marsh hawk is in tearing- 

 large holes in the pelt of a dead trapped muskrat before 

 the trapper gets to it, but this damage is matched, if not 

 exceeded, by the grackles (chocks or crow blackbirds) that 

 have the same bad damaging habit. 



There is proof in plenty of the damage done muskrat 

 marshes by droves of "wild" hogs. The swine have a habit 

 of rooting up muskrat houses and it is evident that many 

 litters of young are thus wiped out. C. E. Ward, in charge 

 of a 'rat ranch, claims that "when hogs once taste muskrat 

 they will continue their forays on hills until the muskrats 

 are killed out." 



There is no "enemy" of the muskrat that has more im- 

 precations of the trapper hurled at it than the alligator. 

 While it is true that this characteristic saurian of our 

 Louisiana marshes does take its toll of muskrats, both big 

 and small, still field surveys and stomach investigations do 

 not bear out the oft-repeated assertion that it is the enemy 

 of our champion fur animal. Details of what has been 

 found in this regard can be studied in the chapter given 

 over to the alligator in this bulletin on page 165. 



An illustration of the widespread prevalence of the be- 

 lief that the 'gator plays an important role in the destruc- 

 tion of the muskrat is found in an assertion by David C. 

 Mills, director of the National Association of the Fur In- 

 dustry, who said "the muskrats in Louisiana have multi- 

 plied as the alligators have been reduced in numbers." 38 



Mr. Mills believes that the smaller fur animals have 

 been able to hold their own by reason of, first, their fe- 

 cundity, and, second, the extermination of their larger 

 natural enemies, and, while there is undoubtedly a great 

 deal of truth in this, we cannot wholly subscribe to his 

 alligator theory alone. 



Brer 'Coon is another muskrat enemy. There is evi- 

 dence in plenty of his tearing into muskrat houses in search 

 of helpless young, but the wily raccoon cannot be counted 

 a factor in muskrat destruction. Its forays are sporadic 

 and almost inconsequential. 



^Mills, D. C, Journal Home Economics, vol. 18, p. 625. 



