ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 65 



All their work is performed in the night ; and they are so 

 expeditious that ip the course of one night I have known them 

 to have collected as much mud as amounted to some thous- 

 ands of their little handsful. They cover the outside of their 

 houses every fall with fresh mud, and as late in the season as 

 possible, which, freezing as hard as a stone, protects them 

 from their common enemy the wolverine ; and as they fre- 

 quently walk over their work, and sometimes give a flap with 

 their tail, particularly when plunging into the water, this 

 without doubt has given rise to the vulgar opinion that they 

 use their tails as a trowel, with which they plaster their work ; 

 for the flapping of the tail is only a habit which they always 

 preserve, even when they become tame and domestic, and 

 more particularly so when they are startled. 



The animal mostly allied to the beaver is THE MUSKRAT or 

 MUSQUASH (Fiber ZibetUcus). It probably gets its name 

 from the musky odor it emits, which even is prevalent in 

 the tail long after it is dried. Unlike the beaver, it remains 

 without fear at the advance of civilization, and doubtless owes 

 its security to its nocturnal habits. Its burrows are very 

 injurious to mill-dams and embankments. Bartram says that 

 in Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, it is never met with within a 

 hundred miles of the coast, showing the care of the Creator in 

 not distributing it, where so much depends upon embankments. 



Its favorite food is the calamus, or sweet scented rush, 

 the root of which it devours with avidity : it also feeds on the 

 fresh-water mussel. Godman denies its being pisciverous, 

 but if he had seen the heaps of mussel shells bearing marks 

 of teeth accumulated here and there round some flat stones 

 just above the water in the lakes of New York state, and 

 sundry other northern waters, he would have recalled his 

 assertion. It is found all through the temperate portions 

 of this continent, and is peculiar to it. According to Dr. 

 Richardson, from four to five hundred thousand of its skins 

 are annually exported to England, principally to be used in 

 the manufacture of hats. E 



