WILDWOOD WAYS 



adapted for either purpose, but it is a tail 

 that does not look as if it belonged to any 

 fur-bearing animal. It is almost as long 

 as the muskrat himself and has never a 

 hair from butt to tip. Instead, it is fur- 

 nished with small stiff scales which might 

 just as well be those of a snake. It is flat- 

 tened sidewise and trimmed down to al- 

 most a knife-edge at top and bottom, and 

 the muskrat uses it most efficiently. 



But however well adapted their feet 

 and tails are for swimming and their fur 

 for keeping them warm and dry beneath 

 the ice, it would seem as if the three little 

 soft-furred, brown chaps that I had just 

 driven from their snug wigwam had a 

 far greater problem to solve than that of 

 warmth or locomotion. How were they 

 to breathe in the water beneath this foot- 

 thick coating where was no hole to give 

 them an outlet to the air? In a few 

 224 



