always tender. The meat is usually 

 soaked overnight in slightly salted 

 cold water preparatory to cooking 

 it.^ The flavor has often been com- 

 pared to that of wil^ duck and 

 terrapin, but it has a distinctive 

 gamy taste. Weak vinegar is used 

 to reduce this wild flavor and to 

 make the meat tenderer. However, 

 some like the natural flavor of 

 muskrat meat and prefer a limited 

 amount of seasoning. To many, 

 during the season, a Sunday dinner 

 of muskrat is preferable to one of 

 fried chicken. For thousands of 

 trapper families in many sections 

 of the country it is the best meat 

 available for their daily diet. It is 

 important to remove the musk 

 glands as they may impart a strong 

 musky flavor when cooked with the 

 meat. 



MUSKRAT FARMING 



The increasing demand for musk- 

 rat fur has led to considerable 

 public interest in the possibilities 

 of raising this animal commercially 

 in pens and fenced enclosures. 

 Numerous artificial muskrat farms 

 were promoted in various States 

 during the period 1925 to 1930. 

 Many persons were deceived by 

 statements that muskrats could be 

 produced profitably under such 

 conditions, and the vast majority 

 of these ventures proved unsuccess- 

 ful. Caution should govern any 

 attempt to raise muskrats in this 

 manner. 



Raising Muskrats in Pens 



Although muskrats can be raised 

 on a limited scale in pens, it is not 

 profitable. Reproduction under re- 

 straint is irregular and losses result 

 from fighting, drinking polluted 

 water, and the close handling neces- 

 sary to raise the animals (fig. 49). 

 After many generations of pen rais- 

 ing, muskrats still reniain wild and 

 easily excited. They never become 

 tame enough to be handled or to be 

 trusted. 



The practice of pairing off the 

 animals before the start of the 

 breeding season should be followed 

 as much as possible. After a musk- 

 rat becomes established in a breed- 

 ing enclosure, it often resents the 

 introduction of a strange animal, 

 even of the opposite sex, and fatali- 

 ties occur. In the early attempts at 

 pen breeding considerable stock was 

 lost in this manner, the female often 

 being badly slashed and cut over 

 the rump. 



The investment required in equip- 

 ment and stock, and the cost of food 

 and labor, make it difficult to realize 

 a profit on the sale of muskrats for 

 the pelt value alone. Ranching 

 operations, consequently, are lim- 



' Dozier, Herbert L., Recipes for cook- 

 ing muskrat meat, Wildlife Leaflet 229, 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



Figure 49. — Pens built in the marsh to 

 study the breeding and feeding habits 

 of the muskrat. 



34 



