78 The Muskrat 
The favorite marsh is one supplied by springs. Here 
it is that we find the greatest number of winter lodges, 
the muskrat apparently reasoning that such places 
are not frozen over solidly. The date of building 
the lodges varies according to the weather conditions, 
most of them, however, being constructed in November. 
A lodge is the combined work of from three to six 
muskrats; it is built at night, and the materials used 
are coarse grass, sticks, leaves, twigs, and mud. While 
this lodge is in process of building it appears to be one 
solid mass, and from this I am led to believe that 
the nest is excavated after the lodge has reached its 
full proportions. When finished, the lodge extends 
two or three feet above the water and is about the 
size of an ordinary haycock. It is not symmetrical, 
one side being less precipitous, and it is most likely 
that up this incline the muskrats bring the material 
used in building. It is a snug little home, and prob- 
ably very comfortable in ordinary winter weather. 
Here it is that the muskrats pass their time, except 
when in search of food. Their foraging excursions are 
usually made at night, and the journey may be some 
little distance from the lodge. 
The food during the winter consists largely of 
aquatic plants. Somewhere on the feeding ground 
extending above the water and ice, one or more 
