FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



Pecos Muskrat. — Ondatra zibethica ripensis (Bailey). 



Size of pallida, with shorter tail and darker pelage. Upper- 

 parts Vandyke brown. Found in "Pecos Valley, in Texas 

 and New Mexico." (Hollister) 



Great Plains Muskrat. — Ondatra zibethica cinnamomina 

 (Hollister). 

 Smaller than typical zibethica, pale in color, with cinnamon- 

 brown upperparts. Total length, 20 inches; tail vertebrae, 

 9.6 inches; hind foot, 2.9 inches. Found in "Great central 

 plains region of western United States and Canada; from 

 Manitoba south to northern Texas; east to central Iowa 

 and west to the Rocky Mountains." (Hollister) 



Louisiana Muskrat. — Ondatra rivalicia (Bangs). 



Smaller than zibethica, pelage duller, underparts darker. 

 Total length, 21.9 inches; tail vertebree, 9.3 inches; hind 

 foot, 3.1 inches. Upperparts dark brownish black with 

 little of the warm reddish tinge of the other forms. Found 

 in "Coast region of Louisiana, north to northern Calcasieu, 

 Pointe Coupee, and Tangipahoa parishes." (Hollister) 



Newfoundland Muskrat. — Ondatra obscura (Bangs). 



Small in size, with hind foot large in proportion, dark 

 brown to almost black above. Total length, 20 inches; 

 tail vertebra, 9 inches; hind foot, 3 inches. Found in 

 Newfoundland. 



The Muskrat is a well-known American species familiar 

 either in its proper identity or as Hudson Seal after it leaves 

 the hands of the fur dresser. In the eyes of the fur trade the 

 Muskrat has come to assume an importance that makes it one 

 of the most valuable of our fur resources, when considered in 

 the aggregate. Fortunately this rodent has such a wide 

 distribution and is so prolific that the species can stand the 

 heavy annual toll exacted of it. 



The Muskrat, as might be expected from its aquatic 

 specializations, is never found at any great distance from 

 water, and is found in greatest abundance in regions of exten- 

 sive marshes and waterways. Along the coasts it lives in the 

 salt marshes, and in the interior ranges along all of the river- 

 courses and lakes. As may be noted from the map, there are 

 few areas in North America between the northern limit of 

 tree growth and the Rio Grande where some form of the genus 

 Ondatra may not be found. Even in regions of comparatively 

 scanty rainfall, such as Arizona, this water-loving creature 

 lives along such streams as exist. 



While the Rats themselves are not so scarce or wary as to 

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