NATURE STUDY. 



PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 



Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. 



Vol. III. January, 1903. No. 8. 



The Muskrat's Winter Home. 



BY WILLIAM H. HUSE. 



Monsieur Musquash is living in his winter residence. 

 He has been there for two months or more now. All sum- 

 mer his domicile was subterranean. It was cool and com- 

 fortable. With his entrance below the surface of the wa- 

 ter he was comparatively safe from most of his enemies. 

 There his little family was reared in the spring. It was a 

 satisfying occasion when all the young people had become 

 expert in swimming and in getting their own provisions. 

 From that time till cold weather, life came near being a 

 picnic. It need not be supposed there were no frights and 

 no escapes from enemies ; but these were soon forgotten. 

 The fields were full o^ clover. The trees were dropping 

 their apples, and carrots and parsnips grew in a nearby 

 garden. lyiving was cheap and luxurious. It only lacked 

 the dream. Nightly excursions to the commissary made 

 a path leading away from the bank near the entrance of 

 his home and branching to the clover, the sweet apples 

 and the garden. How sweet those apples were ! 



The frosts came and our friend's coat grew thicker. 

 Had, he lived farther away from a city he would have been 



