230 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XL 



so gnawed and in the same situation. I did not see the animal in the 

 act of feasting, which I beHeve is chiefly done at night, but I have no 

 doubt that the fish and turtle were eaten by the Muskrat, as well as 

 the mollusks associated with them in the same pile.' " (/. c, p. 286.) 

 Dr. Merriam also says: ''Mr. Charles F. Carr writes me that in 

 Wolf River, Wisconsin, twelve or fifteen years ago, Muskrats were in 

 the habit of eating fish from a gill net set there by a man named Rich." 

 {L c, p. 287.) 



Robert Kennicott gives an interesting account of the habits of this 

 animal. He says: ''The muskrat is active in winter, seeking its food 

 under the ice, and carrying it into its burrow or house to be eaten. 

 Though roots are sometimes found in a nest in winter, they are only such 

 as have been recently brought in, no considerable stores of food being 

 collected. The food, in winter, appears to consist of roots of aquatic 

 plants. In summer, it also feeds upon the leaves of various plants, as 

 well as upon mussels, {Unios anodonta and U. plicatus, etc.), of which 

 they consume great quantities in some of our rivers. Collecting them 

 at the bottom, it carries them in its teeth to a log, or stone, where, 

 sitting upon its haunches and grasping them in the fore-paws, it opens 

 the shell with the incisors as skillfully as it could be done with an oyster- 

 knife. In this way, large piles of shells are collected around stones and 

 logs, by examining which the conchologist may often find rare species, 

 brought from the mud by these animals which have been more suc- 

 cessful collectors than himself. I have observed that those species 

 with thin shells are most sought for, and have often found large speci- 

 mens of Unio plicatus unopened among the piles of empty shells, the 

 muskrat apparently considering them not worth the trouble of gnawing 

 apart the valves at the back," in which manner the heavy shells are 

 sometimes opened. 



"This species is pugnacious, and resists courageously when attacked. 

 The males sometimes have fierce battles, and trappers state that the 

 tail is occasionally mutilated, or cut entirely off in these combats. The 

 voice is a sharp squeak, and some hunters will call the males Within 

 shooting distance by imitating it. From five to seven young — more 

 or less — are produced in April or May. In this region, at least, the 

 muskrats' worst enemy is the mink, which, swimming and diving 

 readily, not only enters their burrows and houses, but pursues them in 

 the water. The mink does not find an easy prey, as the muskrats fight 

 savagely; but, emboldened by hunger, he finally kills his victim, when 

 he does not scruple to devour the whole body. Otters probably kill 

 them, also, as they are occasionally found in muskrat houses." (I. c, 

 pp. 106-107.) 



