WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



tilation or escape?) which the musquash, like the 

 woodchuck, has learned to hide within a clump 

 of bush or grass. Here, when the spring begins 

 to grow warm, are born six or seven young, and 

 here they stay until their mother thinks them 

 strong enough to begin to go abroad and to learn 

 to swim, an accomplishment they must be taught 

 in spite of the aquatic habits of the species; but 

 so must a seal, for that matter. This they cannot 

 do until midsummer, when they are half grown. 

 A Western gentleman of my acquaintance tells 

 how once, early in July, at the time of a most un- 

 usual flood, he saw a family of muskrats that had 

 been driven from home attempting to reach a place 

 of safety. There was a mother and five kittens, 

 each about the size of a barn-rat, holding by the 

 laboring mother's fur with their teeth in evident 

 fear and distress. She made her way slowly and 

 cautiously along the shore, carefully avoiding 

 obstructions and swift water. A fool of a boy 

 hurled a stone which struck the poor creature and 

 scattered her young, and it was with the utmost 

 difficulty the kittens (who knew nothing of diving) 

 were able to reach the near-by reeds, where they 

 were easily captured. The only person I ever 

 heard of catching a full-grown muskrat in that 



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