The Fur Animals of Louisiana 285 



irequently found between the layers of the materials and even lay 

 their eggs there, the damp, warm surroundings no doubt proving very 

 conducive for incubation. Frogs and toads, especially the narrow - 

 mouthed frog (Englostoma extensis) and Bufo valliceps bury them- 

 selves in this material during cold snaps. Ants and beetles are always 

 numerous, especially the former, and, although, when disturbed by 

 opening the hill, they have been seen to swarm over very young musk- 

 rats in their nest, yet they evidently never bite them. When opening 

 a hill, the bites from these enraged inhabitants often prove excruci- 

 ating for a short time. 



SANITATION 



"Muskrats, like many other rodents, are very clean. They spend a 

 great deal of time washing and combing their fur. While working on 

 their houses or building runways, they stop every little while to wash 

 and comb. Upon emerging from the water, a slight shake is sufficient 

 to flick the muddy water and muck from their fur. Excrement is 

 almost always deposited in the water and none is ever found in their 

 nests or houses, which are always sweet and clean. Sometimes a 

 small accumulation o^ pellets is found upon a resting platform or 

 feeding raft. When the muskrats are kept in small pens, a pan of 

 water, changed daily, is entirely efficient in keeping the pens sanitary. 



"Muskrats are almost careful in keeping any wound clean by con- 

 stant licking. If the flesh becomes infected, they do not hesitate to 

 gnaw it away. In many cases — evidenced by three-legged, two-legged 

 and even-one-legged muskrats being caught in the marsh — thev have 

 been able to heal legs amputated by traps. In some cases, this simple 

 licking method of healing wounds is not sufficient to preclude infection 

 and we have found that frequent antiseptic baths are most successful 

 in counteracting septic poisoning and complications. In most cases, 

 however, it is sufficient, after a leg has been amputated, to place the 

 muskrat in a cage by itself and by putting a little Dakin's solution 

 in the waterpan each day, the wound quickly heals. Pus sacs oc- 

 casionally form on the muskrats whose legs have been previously am- 

 putated, and when these are removed they make strenuous efforts to 

 lick up the pus. 



METHOD USED FOR AMPUTATING LEGS 



"When muskrats — and other animals — caught in traps have broken 

 legs immediate amputation becomes necessary. The following method 

 has been used throughout this work successfully: The muskrat is 

 placed in a small box — a rolled oats box proved very efficient — by 

 capturing it by the tail and lowering head first very quickly into the 

 box. The box is covered quickly beiore the muskrat has time to turn 

 around and climb out. A small wad of cotton is saturated with ether 

 and placed in the box, which is then covered tightly. Muskrats "go 

 under" quite readily and usually a very few minutes is sufficient to 

 "put them to sleep." A very good indication as to when sufficient 

 ether has been administered is when the muskrat is quiet but still 

 blinks its eyes. It can then be placed upon the operating table and a 

 cornucopia, made of paper in which is a wad of cotton saturated with 

 ether, is placed over its nose. Care must be taken that too much ether 

 is not given. One person watches and regulates the ether given while 

 the other amputates. Dakin's solution (about 5%) has been used most 

 successfully both for sterilizing the instruments used and for washing 

 the wounds 



