FUR FACTS 61 



FOOD 



Muskrats live on roots, etc. as a general rule and seldom indulge 

 in animal food, it's principal food being pond lillies, arums, sedges 

 and the like — ^but in some localities it feeds on mussels and also on 

 carp and other sluggish fish that bury themselves in mud. When 

 ponds are frozen over, muskrats are restricted almost wholly to food 

 accessible under the ice. In rare cases they leave the water and 

 burrow under the snow in search of grasses and sedges. 



The summer food of the muskrat is far more extensive, being 

 made up of many aquatic plants, roots, stems, leaves and fruit, and 

 in addition to supphes from near by fields or woods. Muskrats are 

 fond of nearly all garden vegetablesi^^^cabbage, onions, carrots, pars- 

 nips, beets, peas, beans, com, celery ana^helike-r-and some times do 

 damage to unprotected gardens close to their haunts. 



In Louisiana the muskrat is something of a pest to the rice planter, 

 as it burrows in the enbankments in the low lands, causing the flood- 

 ing or draining of fields at the wrong time, and often feeds on the 

 growing crop and breaks down the plants. In irrigated sections of 

 the far West, ditches and reservoirs are sometimes injured by musk- 

 rats, requiring costly repairs, etc., and it is well to take this into 

 consideration when starting a piuskrat farm, but as a general pro- 

 position they can be raised in most sections without fear of damage, 

 except where dams and irrigated ditches are necessary. Musk- 

 rats sometimes eat fish, but they capture the sluggish kinds and very 

 seldom, if ever, harm game fish. 



MUSKRAT AS FOOD 



The flesh of the muskrat is on sale in the Baltimore market all 

 during the winter season. They are received by the commission 

 houses from the lower Chesapeake Bay, and sell at from 10c to 20c 

 each. The flesh of the muskrat is dark red in color, but fine grained 

 and tender. If care is used in the method of skinning, and the hair 

 side of the pelt does not come in contact with the flesh, the musk 

 glands come off with the skin and do not effect the meat at all. 

 Where the skinning is done by the proper method the flesh of the 

 muskrat is delicious. The flavor is somewhat like the wild duck 

 that has been caught in the same marshes, as it lives principally on 

 the same food, and in the Chesapeake Bay district it is compared to 

 the flavor of the famous terrapin. To remove the musky odor the 

 muskrat can be soaked in salt water over night, and when fried, 



