THE MUSKRAT AND ITS HOME 



of tall sunflowers which raised their bright yel- 

 low and brown heads to greet the first rays of 

 the morning sun. They turned slowly during 

 the day and reverently bowed a farewell to him 

 when he disappeared at evening. 



Late one afternoon in July, as Joe and I were 

 rowing down the stream in his rude canoe, we no- 

 ticed two dark objects in the water. Soon they 

 were joined by another. All we could see was 

 the tops of their heads and the tips of their 

 tails. The heads were about the size of those 

 of our common house-cats. Joe said they were 

 muskrats, or " musquash," as the Indians called 

 them. He quietly pushed the canoe alongside 

 of the bank under the shadow of a large cotton- 

 wood tree which bent its branches over the 

 stream. From this sheltered point we watched 

 the muskrats aimlessly floating about about on 

 the water. Presently they swam down stream, 

 the old one taking the lead with the young rats 

 about a foot behind. They swam with a strong 

 muscular stroke, using their long* toes which 

 have stiff hairs between them that interlace to 

 form a web and act like the oars of a boat, 

 as they push their legs out against the water, 



