82 The Muskrat 
disturbed the muskrats betake themselves to their 
individual huts until their fright is over. 
At all seasons the food of the muskrat is in the 
main herbaceous, consisting chiefly of the roots of 
marsh grasses and aquatic plants. He is very fond 
of sweet apples and will venture quite a distance 
from home that he may enjoy this tidbit. Vegetable 
gardens situated along water courses are sometimes 
serlously damaged by a colony of muskrats. I re- 
member very distinctly an experience which I had 
in my younger days. Near the lower end of the 
garden, which was my care and pride, flowed a large 
creek along whose course were numerous sequestered 
pools and coves, set back well into the mainland and 
shaded by willows. The muskrat families that dwell 
about these ideal places were well supplied with the 
necessary vegetation, but this did not satisfy their 
appetites. In the latter part of August the vegetables 
in the garden began to disappear, and early in Sep- 
tember the turnips, carrots, and parsnips were nearly 
destroyed. It did not dawn upon me that this was 
the work of muskrats until one evening a heavy 
shower left the soil of the garden very soft. In the 
morning the story of the marauders was plainly written 
on the telltale earth. The footprints were unmis- 
takably those of the muskrat. Now knowing who 
