116 MUSK-RAT. 



reducing, if not exterminating, tliese pests, in a small neighbourhood, in 

 the course of one or two seasons. The traps should be set in shallow wa- 

 ter, near the edge of the stream or pool, or on a log sunk about an inch 

 under the water ; with a cord ten or twelve feet long, so as to prevent 

 the animals from running away with the traps when they have been 

 caught ; one or two slices of parsnips or sweet apples, may be stuck upon 

 small twigs, so that they will hang about six inches above the traps. The 

 animal, having evidently a good nose, whilst swimming at some little 

 distance from the traps when thus set, suddenly turns as it scents the 

 bait, swims along the shore toward it, and reaching up to seize it, 

 is caught by the foot, and being of course greatly alarmed, jerks the 

 trap off the log or pulls it into deep water, where the weight of the 

 trap soon drowns it. The Musk-Rat also readily enters, and is easily ta- 

 ken in a box-trap, but it ought to be lined with tin or sheet iron, for 

 its formidable incisors otherwise enable the animal to make its escape by 

 gnawing a hole in the box. We have sometimes seen it taken between 

 two boards, in what is called a figure of 4 trap, with a heavy weight on 

 the upper board. 



The following mode of hunting the Musk-Rat, frequently affords a con- 

 siderable degree of amusement. A party is made up to go ; a spade, an 

 axe, and a hoe, are carried along, and a spear, or in lieu of it, a pitch- 

 fork ; in addition to these, a hoop-net is sometimes wanted, but what is 

 most important, and regarded as a sine qu& non, is a dog accustomed to 

 hunting these aquatic animals. The season which promises most suc- 

 cess in this way of hunting them is the autumn, before the heavy rains 

 have swelled the waters. The party go to some sluggish stream that 

 winds through a meadow, or across a flat country, where the banks are 

 not so high as to render the " digging" that has to be done, too laborious. 

 The little islands, which in such places rise but a few^ feet above the water, 

 are sometimes perforated by the Musk-Rats, and their holes and exca- 

 vations undermine them in a great degree, so that it is difficult to find and 

 stop all the mouths of these galleries, and thereby render success tolerably 

 certain. But as these are the very places in which the greatest number 

 of these animals are to be found, it is quite important to " invest " them. 

 It is necessary to be very cautious in digging dowTi along the banks of 

 these islets, in order to reach and stop up the holes, and it usually hap- 

 pens that notwithstanding every precaution is taken, the animals find 

 some way to escape. No sooner is their ancient domicil disturbed, than 

 they issue forth from their holes under the water, to seek some safer re- 

 treat along the banks of the main-land ; one after another is seen, alter- 

 nately rising and diving, and making for the shore. If it is ascertained 



