Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 

 WINTER MUSKRAT HOUSi: ON THEj RIVEjR BANK HE:i,D SI:CURE:i.Y IN PI.ACE BY THE: 



BUNCH OF ALDERS 



Note the carrot dangling just above the muskrat. FlashHght (see page 785) 



the purpose of driving the muskrat out 

 into an open space where it could be pho- 

 tographed to better advantage — a pro- 

 ceeding it resented with some vigor by 

 biting off the ends of the wisp (see page 

 780). In the effort to round him up he 

 was upset, but he had become so fat and 

 unwieldy that it took several trials to re- 

 gain his footing. When right side up, 

 with a gloved hand he was seized by the 

 tail and held aloft while the camera 

 snapped again (see page 781). 



Replaced on the ground, he headed for 

 the water, but on discovering the carrot 

 in the trail, he seized it without signs of 

 fear and dragged it down to the water's 

 edge, where he disappeared under the 

 dock. Late in the afternoon the flash- 

 light was set upon the path near the wa- 

 ter, and at dusk, just as the bait was 

 being tied on, I saw the dim figure of 

 the muskrat coming out of the creek and 

 headed for the carrot ; so, giving a warn- 



ing cry, we rushed away just as the flash 

 exploded ^see page 782). 



For many days thereafter this animal 

 ate and dozed alternately in the carrot 

 bed, and one evening I saw him at the 

 edge of the bank with a large carrot, out 

 of which he would take a bite and then 

 his eyes would close ; and then in a mo- 

 ment he would nibble again. He had 

 now grown fatter than a woodchuck. 

 The morning following this my attention 

 was called to the animal's head sticking 

 out from under the dock, and for the 

 first time he did not seem to be interested 

 in carrots. Examination showed him to 

 be as dead as a mackerel, and his days of 

 gluttony were over. 



WINTER HOMES 01^ THE MUSKRAT 



The time of year had come when the 

 old and the young muskrats, lacking a 

 warm home within reach of open or run- 

 ning waters, must provide a new one in 



784 



