THE MAMMALS OF NEW JERSEY. 71 



thick, with a dense wooly underfur, dark brown somewhat tinged 

 with fulvous, especially on the sides, dull white below, with scat- 

 tered fulvous hairs ; throat and lips white with a brown spot on 

 the chin. 



The muskrat is a distinctly aquatic species, abounding in the 

 broad, marshy tracts bordering the larger streams and the bay 

 shores of southern New Jersey. It also occurs along the banks of 

 lakes and far up toward the head-waters of our small streams, as 

 well as along the canals. By digging its burrows through the 

 banks of the latter and through the dykes that are constructed 

 here and there to protect meadows or to drain up the cranberry 

 bogs, it does serious damage. In fact, this is about the only way 

 in which the muskrat becomes an enemy to mankind. His food 

 consists of various acquatic plants and roots which are of no 

 especial value. 



The true home of the muskrat is a burrow in a bank, the mouth 

 usually under water but the terminal nesting chamber clear above 

 the water line. Here the little ones are born. In the larger bodies 

 of water or in extensive marshes they build the large dome-shaped 

 lodges which are so conspicuous, standing up in winter clear 

 above the dead and flattened marsh grass like so many old fash- 

 ioned ovens. These are built of sods and tufts of grass and 

 rushes, and are usually very hard and almost impenetrable to or- 

 dinary enemies on the outside ; inside is a chamber high up above 

 the water line, lined with grass ; below, passageways pass out 

 through the water in several directions. The fur of the muskrat 

 has always been a regular source of gain for the trapper and 

 im.mense numbers of their pelts are sold annually in this State. 

 Originally used only for caps, robes, etc., they are now prepared 

 and dyed and constitute much of the commercial furs that are 

 sold under the more alluring names. 



Fiber zihethicus Abbott, Cook's Geol. of N. J., 1868, p. 758. — 

 Abbott, A Naturalist's Rambles, 1885, p. 451. — Beesley, Geol. 

 Cape May Co., 1857, p. 137. — Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1897, p. 27. — Rhoads, Mam. Pa. and N. J., 1905, p. 104. 



