The Fur Animals of Louisiana 301 



tory month for the trappers, and the crop of pelts had to 

 be harvested during February and up to March 15, although 

 the state game warden of Maryland believes that trapping, 

 in normal winters, should not be continued too late. 



This same official points out that very few states have 

 the so-called "black" muskrat and that they are New Jersey, 

 Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. He claims that Mary- 

 land is the only state where the black muskrat averages 

 better than 20 per cent out of every 100 taken, and asserts 

 that in his state the catch usually shows 60 to 65 per cent 

 black muskrats. He estimates that in the 1927-28 season 

 the Maryland trappers averaged from $1.50 to $2.00 per pelt 

 for the brown 'rat and $2.50 to $3.00 for the blacks. 



Some interesting observances are gleaned from Mr. Le- 

 Compte's article. For instance, he says: "Some of the 

 marsh owners have a habit of burning over the marshland 

 during March, claiming that this action makes the grass 

 grow for grazing purposes and hay. I believe that every 

 marshland owner, who has any muskrat area, should burn 

 the houses (or homes) prepared by the muskrat the season 

 before. For instance, all houses found in the marshes in 

 July and August should be destroyed by burning because 

 the muskrat will select an old house, remodel it for the 

 coming season, and, as they are invariably infested with 

 lice, that this will prove a detriment to the young that the 

 mother will litter in the renovated marsh apartment." 



The game warden of Maryland hastens to add, however, 

 that he does not approve the burning of marshlands. To 

 the contrary, he says that it is his belief that if the muskrat 

 producing area is not burned over, large quantities of 

 aquatic plants, which form the principal foods of the ani- 

 mals, would be conserved for the coming season. This ap- 

 pears to be very sound advice, whether it is given a trapper 

 or marshland owner in Maryland, Ontario, Manitoba, or 

 Louisiana. 



In commenting on the fact that there was not a large 

 catch in his state during the 1927-28 season, the Maryland 

 conservationist said that a great deal of the shortage was 

 caused by "not enough feed on the marshes for the animals 



