WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



ing little creature, not only largely nocturnal in its 

 habits, but shy and quick to conceal itself on the 

 farther side of a limb or tree, where its gray color 

 enables it to escape observation. 



The muskrat, on the other hand, is a brown, 

 aquatic rat, with a naked, scaly, somewhat flattened 

 tail, adapted to scull him along in swimming and 

 diving, and teeth almost as strong for gnawing as 

 those of his cousin, the beaver. He thrives upon 

 man's bounty, in spite of the fact that he is per- 

 secuted and chased by many persons with many 

 motives. To some it is sufficient that he is a wild 

 animal — game — something provided by Providence 

 for boys to stone and shoot; to others his skin has 

 a prospective value; and a third class tries to de- 

 stroy him because he misuses human hospitality 

 by undermining embankments, boring holes in 

 dams and canal banks, and catching captive fish. 

 Nevertheless, the muskrat maintains his tribe in 

 every part of the country. 



He lives in a fine home underground, at the ex- 

 tremity of a hall-way ten, twenty, or even thirty 

 feet long, which opens upon a stream bank usually 

 by two doors, one about the level of low water, 

 and the other near high- water mark. Besides 

 this there is usually an inland opening (for ven- 



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