Part III.] Pond Fish Culture. 165 



Another method is to dig out a small shallow pocket in the 

 shore, extending it back into the bank about a foot from the 

 water's edge. Pile the mud and freshly dug up dirt just back 

 of the little water hole. Then set the trap about two inches 

 under water in this prepared pocket and cover lightly with 

 mud, or with a little decayed vegetation so as to partly conceal 

 the trap. This sort of a place with a little bait seems to attract 

 the attention of a muskrat. With the above suggestions and a 

 little experience you ought to be able to catch the muskrats 

 without much trouble. 



As a rule it is a poor plan to set the trap in the burrow of any 

 animal. Better set the trap in a near-by place that the animal 

 frequents while traveling or feeding. The chain should be 

 fastened to a stick that can be pushed into the ground in the 

 deeper water. When the muskrat gets in the trap it will 

 twist the chain around the stick (or perhaps it is better if two 

 sticks are stuck a few inches apart) and soon drown itself. 

 A wire fastened near the shore, with a stone, sand bag or some 

 kind of a weight on the other end of it, thrown into the water, 

 makes one of the very best devices for fastening the trap. As 

 soon as the rat is caught it will plunge out into the deeper 

 water; the ring on the trap chain will slip down on the wire 

 into the deeper water, and in a very few moments the muskrat 

 will be drowned, thus preventing any undue suffering from any 

 injury that may have been inflicted by the trap. It is a good 

 idea to make a little kink or bend in the lower part of the wire 

 to prevent the ring on the chain from slipping back on the 

 wire after it has once slipped down. When not drowned a 

 muskrat will sometimes cut its foot off close to the trap and 

 get away. 



The high price of muskrat skins during the past few years 

 makes it possible during the trapping season to get experienced 

 trappers to catch the animals for their fur. However, care 

 should be taken to shoot or trap any animals that may be left 

 in the ponds in the early spring before they bring forth litters 

 of young muskrats. 



Muskrats, as we have stated before, are vegetable feeders 

 and eat many kinds of aquatic plants, feeding for the most 

 part upon the juicy and tender parts of the stems. They also 

 eat the young growing tops and buds of certain plants. The 

 bark of some of the willows, as well as some of the tender 

 branches, are eaten. Small willows are frequently cut in early 

 winter time and carried to their feeding places. 



The Mink. 



Very few animals of the mink or weasel kind bother the 

 fish ponds. Both the mink and the otter are great fish eaters. 

 Otters are very rare, if any are left in the state ; and the mink, 

 owing to the high price paid for its fur, is not common any- 

 where. We know of only one being, taken on the Hatchery 

 grounds during the past four years. 



