78 The Muskrat 



The favorite marsh is one supplied by springs. Here 

 it is that we find the greatest number of winter lodges, 

 the muskrat apparently reasoning that such places 

 are not frozen over solidly. The date of building 

 the lodges varies according to the weather conditions, 

 most of them, however, being constructed in November. 

 A lodge is the combined work of from three to six 

 muskrats; it is built at night, and the materials used 

 are coarse grass, sticks, leaves, twigs, and mud. While 

 this lodge is in process of building it appears to be one 

 solid mass, and from this I am led to believe that 

 the nest is excavated after the lodge has reached its 

 full proportions. When finished, the lodge extends 

 two or three feet above the water and is about the 

 size of an ordinary haycock. It is not symmetrical, 

 one side being less precipitous, and it is most likely 

 that up this incline the muskrats bring the material 

 used in building. It is a snug little home, and prob- 

 ably very comfortable in ordinary winter weather. 

 Here it is that the muskrats pass their time, except 

 when in search of food. Their foraging excursions are 

 usually made at night, and the journey may be some 

 little distance from the lodge. 



The food during the winter consists largely of 

 aquatic plants. Somewhere on the feeding ground 

 extending above the water and ice, one or more 



