Muskrat 555 



the Muskrats in their houses by the waterside, and there is 

 often a bushel or more of the psinchinchah to be found within. 

 It seems as if everybody were good to the wild Indian, at least 

 we thought so then." 



The Muskrat has many enemies. Hawks, owls, Weasels, enemies 

 Otters, Foxes, Wolves, and many others consider it their 

 lawful prey, and the pike and pickerel take it at a disadvantage 

 on the water, but the Mink is almost the worst of its natural 

 foes. The Mink abounds wherever the Muskrat does. It 

 frequents the same places, it is aquatic, and can follow the 

 Muskrat into its house, no matter how long or how crooked 

 is the underwater trail to the door. E. W. Deming, the 

 animal painter, tells me that when he lived on the Green River 

 of Illinois in the '8o's, he spent much time each winter catching 

 Mink and Muskrat. He became very familiar with their habits, 

 and learned that the former feeds regularly on the latter. He 

 once dug out a Mink, and found within its den the remains of 

 10 Muskrats. Apparently the Rat has but one advantage, and 

 that is it can out-dive the Mink. It is moreover, a desperate 

 fighter when at bay, it never surrenders, and, as Charles G. D. 

 Roberts points out, a strong, old Muskrat might even defeat a 

 small Mink in one of the narrow underwater ways. 



There is yet another and still more dangerous enemy, that 

 is, a severe winter following a dry fall. The ponds are then so 

 shallow that they freeze to the bottom, the Rats are either 

 forced out to be at a helpless disadvantage among birds and 

 beasts of prey, or are sealed in so that they prey on each other. 

 It takes years for the species to recover from such a dire ex- 

 perience. 



The Muskrat is remarkably free from parasites. A sort of para- 

 fur-lice is found on most individuals, but not to an inconven- 

 ient extent. I do not know of any disease that it is subject to. 



The flesh of this animal is eaten at all times by the flesh 

 Indians. In the fall and the winter it is not unpalatable, 



