22 THE TRAPPER'S ART. 



rise sometimes to the height of five or six feet. The entrances 

 are at the bottom, under water; so that the inside of the 

 houses are not exposed to the open air. The Muskrats live in 

 them in winter, gathering into families of from six to ten 

 members. Hundreds of these dwellings can be counted from 

 a single point in many large marshes. 



Muskrats have a curious method of travelling long distances 

 under the ice. In their winter excursions to their feeding- 

 grounds, which are frequently at great distances from their 

 abodes, they take in breath at starting and remain under the 

 water as long as they can. Then they rise up to the ice, and 

 breathe out the air in their lungs, which remains in bubbles 

 against the lower surface 'of the ice. They wait till this air 

 recovers oxygen from the water and the ice, and then take it 

 in again and go on till the operation has to be repeated. In 

 this way they can travel almost any distance, and live any 

 length of time under the ice. 



The hunter sometimes takes advantage of this habit of the 

 Muskrat, in the following manner : When the marshes and 

 ponds where Muskrats abound are first frozen over and the ice 

 is thin and clear, on striking into their houses with his hatchet 

 for the purpose of setting his traps, he frequently sees a whole 

 family plunge into the water and swirn away under the ice. 

 Following one of them for some distance, he sees him come 

 up to renew his breath in the manner above described. After 

 the animal has breathed against the ice, and before he has had 

 time to take his bubble in again, the hunter strikes with his 

 hatchet directly over him and drives him away from his 

 breath. In this case he drowns in swimming a few rods, and 

 the hunter, cutting a hole in the ice, takes him out. Mink, 

 otter, and beaver travel under the ice in the same way ; and 

 hunters have frequently told me of taking otter in the manner 

 I have described, when these animals visit the houses of the 

 Muskrat for prey. 



In summer, Muskrats live mostly in banks and in hollow 

 trees that stand near a stream ; and sometimes, for want of 

 suitable marshes and ponds, they remain in the banks and 

 trees through the winter. They are very prolific, bringing 



