226 Union Bay 



they face the additional danger of trapping by owners who 

 wish to protect their property. 



I found the muskrats well scattered over the marsh. They 

 live in two ways: in bank burrows reached by underwater 

 passages, and in above-ground houses somewhat similar in 

 appearance to beaver lodges but much smaller and built of 

 lighter material. Formerly I saw a dozen of these houses 

 around the marsh, but for some reason few are now built. I 

 do not think that it indicates a decided drop in population, 

 but probably is due to some cause such as a change in the 

 water level or the greater protection offered by a bank bur- 

 row. These burrows cannot be reached from above and there- 

 fore must provide better protection from dogs or other mam- 

 mals. The muskrat has never appeared to me as fast a swimmer 

 as a mink. This may be due to the fact that, as a predator, the 

 mink has need of greater speed and strength and has there- 

 fore developed in that direction. 



I passed three muskrats at different times of the day. They 

 swam quietly and easily, their passage marked by a small V 

 at the rear of the partially exposed head. When I made no 

 change in my tempo and refrained from noise, one of them 

 kept on its course and passed close to me, but when I tapped 

 the canoe lightly it immediately dived and I saw it no more. 

 The other two swam to the bank and then went underwater, 

 evidently into their burrow entrance. 



They are considered to be almost nocturnal in their habits, 

 but I have seen them now and then in the middle of the day 

 and very frequently before the sun has risen high in the 

 morning. On this trip I saw their droppings on little points 

 of projecting earth where they seem to make a practice of 

 leaving them. I saw empty shells on similar exposed bumps 

 and I assumed that they brought them there for food. I have 

 been told that they leave fresh mussels in the sun until they 

 open, but this is only hearsay. I have never seen any evi- 

 dence of food storage and wondered why until I was in- 



