shaped. Their number does not seem to vary 

 much from year to year, whereas muskrats are 

 said to be very proUfic. What, then, becomes of 

 all the young? I have never known of any one 

 trapping or killing them in this pond. It may 

 be the old mink in the glen, and many another, 

 make this their hunting-ground and thus keep 

 down the number. 



These queer neighbors pique our curiosity. 

 What manner of life do they lead indoors ? They 

 take some rude pleasure and have dull animal 

 thoughts perhaps. As you stamp upon the ice 

 and slap your hands to keep from freezing, the 

 muskrat sits serenely below enjoying the comforts 

 of the pond, and quite unaware the mercury has 

 dropped to zero. He has built him a house and 

 stocked his cellar, and what cares he. As snug as 

 a mouse in a cheese, he has taken the precaution 

 to make his home of his favorite dish. Let the 

 world freeze, then, if it will, he nibbles the walls 

 of his room till it thaws again. Consider the in- 

 terior of that dwelling, what a murky house is 

 there, its front door under water and never a 

 window. 



Muskrats repair and enlarge their huts in the 



