236 REPORT OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



allowed to take muskrats wherever they choKe and the marsh land could 

 have been bought for less than 50 cents an acre. At the present time 

 siome of the marshes are w^orth more, on a basis of the income derived 

 from them, than cultivated farms of like acreage in the same vicinity, 

 owing to the muskrat. As a rule trapping privileges are leaded, and 

 both trapper and owner protect the marshes from poaching. As instanc- 

 ing the values thus attained the following quotation is made from a 

 Bulletin issued on the subject by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture : 



" The owner of one tract of marsh informed the writer that he 

 bought it three or four years ago for |2,700. It is leaised for half the fur 

 and yielded him in 1909, |890, or about 33 per cent, on the investment. 

 The owner of a small piece of marsh — ^about 40 acres — bought it in 1905 

 for |150. Leased for half the fur it has yielded the owner |30, |60, |70 

 and |100 for each of the four years 1906-1909. . . . The owner of a 

 1,300 acre tract of marsh trapped it this season with the aid of his 

 sons and secured over 5,000 muiskrats, which were sold for |2,300." 



It is interesting to note, also, that as a food the muskrat has a place 

 in certain markets, such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wilmington, 

 where it is sold as " marsh-rabbit," although no effort is made to con- 

 ceal its identity, and not only do well-to-do people buy and eat it, but 

 that since the animal is caught principally for its fur and the additional 

 labor of preparing the meat for market is but trifling, it can be sold 

 very cheaply. In Baltimore in 1908 the retail price was about 10 cents 

 each, and the wholesale price about 7 cents each, and the demand at 

 these prices appeared to be considerably in excess of the supply. The 

 flesh of the muskrat was generally esteemed by the aborigines of North 

 America and the early colonists soon learned to eat the animal also. At 

 the present time opinions appear to differ as to its edible qualities, some * 

 maintaining that its musky flavor is so strong as to prevent all but the 

 starving from eating it, while others aver that it is game worthy of an 

 epicure with a flavor somewhat akin to wild duck that has been shot in 

 the same marshes where it has fed, or have even compared its' flavor to 

 that of the famous terrapin. Indeed, annual muskrat banquets are by 

 no means uncommon with gun clubs in certain of the western states of 

 the Union. The flesh of the muskrat is dark red in color, but fine 

 grained and tender. Care should be taken in skinning it that the fur 

 does not touch the flesh, to avoid cutting into the musk glands and to 

 trim off any subcutaneous glands that may adhere to the meat. Various 

 recipes for either stewing, frying or roasting muskrat can be readily 

 obtained. It is doubtful whether many of these creatures are consumed 

 by white people in Ontario at the present time, but there would appear 

 to be no reason why the carcass of the muskrat should not become an 

 article of considerable commercial value in the Province, and thus tend 

 to increase the proflts of those who become interested in its cultivation. 



An attempt has been made in this section to indicate the feasibility 



