240 Reminiscences of 



How shall we account for this apparently abnor- 

 mal faculty indicated by animals, birds, and fish, so 

 plainly evinced in many instances? I am reminded 

 of the almanac maker, who prophesied the condi- 

 tion of the weather in advance, who, pausing on a 

 country trip to inquire the way of a farmer engaged 

 in feeding out corn to his ranging swine, was given 

 his route with the advice to make haste for his some- 

 what distant destination, as a storm was coming on. 

 To this he responded that it was not likely, as his 

 almanac claimed a fair day. Going on, he was over- 

 taken by the storm and wet through. Returning 

 the following day he had the curiosity to ask the 

 farmer how he knew a storm was coming on when 

 the conditions for pleasant weather were so evident? 

 To which the farmer replied : 



"Oh, my hogs know more than almanac makers, I 

 could tell by the way they acted." 



The muskrat is much better adapted for rapid 

 progress through the water than on land, being web- 

 footed and possessing a flat, scaly tail of good length, 

 admirable for guiding its body. The hind legs and 

 feet are blady or thin, by which the rat can swim 

 rapidly and feather the oar, so to say, in a perfect 

 manner, and will go for a hundred feet under water 

 without difficulty. A peculiarity about the animal 

 is its musky odor, and if the supplying glands are not 

 removed in dressing, the odor may be found rather 

 too powerful for ordinary appetites, though my 

 Indian comrades would not take the trouble to remove 

 such sources, had I not insisted upon it. 



One feature of prominence I observed in the musk- 

 rat. That of its extremely pugnacious character, as 



