A SUMMER AT HOME. 201 



BO large a mammal could find secure cover from pursu- 

 ing foes, if the latter are guided only by sight. Al- 

 though I was positive the musk rat was within a few 

 steps, yet, search as I would, I could not see it from 

 where I stood. In fact, when directly over the animal, 

 a careful parting of the grass was needed to find it. 

 The creature had drawn itself up to a mere ball of ap- 

 parently dull brown earth, so that, if upon bare ground, 

 it would not be recognized, except after the most care- 

 ful scrutiny. 



On attempting to pick the muskrat up it showed its 

 teeth, but did not offer to bite. When touched with my 

 cane, although not in the least hurt, it uttered a faint 

 squeak, that would not be noticeable if attention were 

 not directly called to it. 



How much nonsense, of late, has been written of 

 muskrats and fresh-water mussels ! That this rodent is 

 extravagantly fond of the mollusks named is known to 

 every one, but lovers of the marvellous have long in- 

 sisted that a muskrat never injures a mussel's shell, when 

 extracting the animal it holds, so the question, of course, 

 arose. How do they accomplish this ? They don't, and 

 never did. That is the common-sense reply to the whole 

 matter. Muskrats adopt two methods of procuring 

 mussels for food. They carry out of the water, in their 

 mouths, quantities of the mollusks, and leave them to sick- 

 en on the shore, and when the dying mussels open their 

 shells, no skill is needed to get at the soft parts of the ani- 

 mal within. They also, if in a hurry for a meal, nibble at 

 the hinge or edges of the valves, and so effect an entrance. 

 The assertion, so often made, that the shells are never 



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