CHAPTER IV 
PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 
In Europe some of the best-known species of 
meadow-mouse are large and aquatic, as, for 
example, the common water-rat of England. 
Of the same sort, on a larger scale, is our 
American muskrat—a huge, water-dwelling 
vole with a tail compressed into -a sculling-oar, 
whose appearance and manner of life are fa- 
miliar to most of us. 
Mischief done by muskrats. In the Eastern 
States muskrats do little damage, although 
everywhere abundant, except occasionally by 
opening a dike that protects a New England 
salt-meadow from high tides. West of the Al- 
leghanies, however, they often cause great an- 
noyance to the owners of canals and reservoirs 
by their burrowing; and frequently enter gar- 
dens near the water-side and devour fruit and 
vegetables to a considerable extent, while corn- 
fields sometimes suffer much when the corn 
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