WILDWOOD WAYS 



in the shallows. His river habits are 

 strong upon him in this work, for he usu- 

 ally makes a delta of entrances, three or 

 four leading up into the same passage 

 which often has a wee exit above water, 

 near the edge. Here if you are particu- 

 larly fortunate you may in midsummer 

 see his young poke their noses up, longing 

 for a peek at the great world, before they 

 are big enough to swim out into it. Here, 

 too, weasel and mink sometimes find en- 

 trance and devour his family. But there 

 are three litters a year, as a rule, so the 

 occasional weasel serves to keep down a 

 too great increase in the population. 



His greatest enemy, however, is man, 

 who so pollutes the streams with sewage 

 and factory refuse that no self-respecting 

 muskrat can live in many of them, and 

 who hunts him for his fur for the making 

 of automobile coats. Yet in the case of 

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