304 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



"Mr. Gibbs is trapping these animals in the wild (not 

 ranch raised) and propagating them in captivity. His pens 

 are built of sheet metal and one-inch mesh chicken wire 

 carried into the ground one foot, on hard dry ground well 

 back from the ponds of the marsh, three to four feet in 

 the soft, wet ground where the animals will work up 

 against it. 



"The animals are paired and placed in pens to propa- 

 gate. The diet consists chiefly of apples, the tops and roots 

 of such vegetables as carrots, beets, parsnips, etc. The 

 muskrats are also very fond of the leaves of kale, clover, 

 cabbage, parsley and corn, both stalks and grain. One of 

 the best foods for the muskrat and one which he enjoys 

 the most is the ordinary chicken scratch food. 



"The muskrat, being a very clean animal, must be sup- 

 plied with plenty of fresh, clean water, both to drink and 

 to swim in. If persons propagating them in captivity can 

 have flowing water through the pens at all times it would 

 take care of the water situation, but if not, a swimming 

 tank must be constructed. An ordinary dishpan is large 

 enough for a pen, but the water must be changed often and 

 kept clean and sanitary. These animals are fed four ounces 

 of vegetables and one and one-half ounces of grain per 

 animal per day. They will breed three to five times a season 

 with an average of five to seven to a litter, and the young 

 can be marketed for full-grown animals within six months. 



"He is getting $20 to $25 a pair for the black and $15 

 to $20 for the brown muskrats and cannot fill one-half of 

 the orders he receives." 



The above description of the Gibbs methods are interest- 

 ing, but it must be pointed out that, as yet, Mr. LeCompte's 

 original statement that artificial muskrat farming does not 

 pay, according to the author of this bulletin, still stands 

 good, as Gibbs is making his profits from the sale of breed- 

 ing stock and not from the farming of muskrats on a 

 strictly pelting basis. The reader, too, is invited to com- 

 pare the quoted Gibbs methods to those of the Mt. Forest 

 Fur Farms as detailed on page 343. 



