..^ . 



\: 







jM. 



Figure 33.— Muskrat tracks in fresh mud. 

 The lines are made by the animals 

 dragging their tails at times. 



considerable diurnal activity and 

 traps set for thern may be visited 

 several times a day with good 

 results. 



Traps may be placed in the mud 

 of the trail or runway slightly un- 

 der water. As the muskrat runs or 

 swims over the trap its foot usually 

 strikes the pan and releases the 

 spring and trap jaws. The trap is 

 secured by a chain to a slender pole 

 so that the animal cannot escape 



Figure 34. — Muskrat defecating jiost. 

 Their number in a marsh is an indi- 

 cator of the size of the muskrat pop- 

 ulation. 



Figure 35. — Floating-log trap set. Musk- 

 rats often use such logs as feeding 

 platforms. 



with it. When traps are set in the 

 deeper leads or in open water, the 

 struggling animals are pulled under 

 and quickly drowned. Dirt mounds 

 scattered along the edges of some 

 of the main channels are attractive 

 to muskrats for denning. Sets 

 placed in approaches to these dens 

 and along the leads into dike banks 

 give excellent results. 



A floating log (fig. 35), or one 

 extending out into the water from 

 the bank, is often used to support 

 a few traps as the muskrats fre- 

 quently use such locations as feed- 

 ing platforms or as highways. 

 Shallow notches, wide enough to 

 hold several traps, are cut into the 

 log, the trap chains fastened to the 

 sides by staples, and the traps cov- 

 ered lightly with leaves, grass, or 

 waterweed. Floating-board sets 

 are good substitutes for logs — the 

 traps being placed just beneath the 

 water on attached, slanting boards. 



In many States trapping inside a 

 muskrat house, or setting a trap 

 Avithin 6 feet of it is prohibited by 

 law. A distinction should be made, 

 however, between the feeding hut, 



27 



