Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 



skize;d by the taii., it was held aloft for the purpose oe showing its ever- 

 increasing GIRTH (see page 784) 



set out the camera, I found a compact 

 area where the majority of certain ma- 

 ture trees had bark eaten from the trunk, 

 I carefully examined and counted them 

 as follows : i8 silver birches, 5 elms, 4 

 maples, 3 each of white pine and hem- 

 lock. Not one of the numerous balsam 

 trees had been touched. In only two in- 

 stances were the trees completely girdled, 

 and in each case in different years, the 

 last animal either not realizing it was 

 killing the tree or not noticing the old 

 cutting. In the same neighborhood the 

 upper and terminal limbs of a number 

 of young pines were denuded of bark, 

 and in several cases the trees were dead 

 or dying. 



The strong teeth of the porcupine are 

 admirably adapted for removing the 

 heavy bark, and, as in the case of the 

 beaver, this animal can chisel out large 

 pieces. The picture on page 776 shows 

 how cleanly the bark was removed and 

 eaten, the inner wood showing plainly 

 the scoring made by the flat teeth and 

 how carefully the animals avoided re- 

 moving more than half the bark. 



MUSKRATS AND THEIR HOMES AND HABITS 



While the steady advance in the value 

 of muskrat skins has led many a trapper 

 who was wont to pass them by to put 

 them on his list of desirables, these ani- 

 mals withstand onslaught better than any 

 other of the fur-bearers, due to their fe- 

 cundity and wide distribution rather than 

 any ability to elude capture. 



Every frequenter of the wilderness, as 

 well as the watchful ruralist, is familiar 

 with the swimming figure of this inhabit- 

 ant of the marshes, and toward evening 

 sometimes sees him waddling along the 

 banks or astride a partially sunken log 

 deftly opening mussel shells — about the 

 only flesh sought by this aquatic rodent. 

 Often muskrats are more abundant in the 

 marshes of a partly settled district, where 

 the mink and other enemies have been 

 long ago eliminated and where the far- 

 mer boy, rather than the professional 

 trapper, has been its only enemy; but its 

 greater relative abundance and the in- 

 creasing value of the pelt makes it now 

 well worth the effort of the skillful trap- 



781 



