MUSKRATS 229 



of dead rushes, they seem at first to emphasise the 

 generally cold, deserted aspect. But look on the 

 sunny side of a house, and the white frost will show 

 the thin spot where the warmth of the little colony 

 has thawed the wall. That is the breathing-place, and 

 the air filtering through leaves soft hoar-frost on the 

 outside. With moccasins it is possible to approach 

 without disturbing the inmates and to hear them 

 moving inside. The sound of life in such a desolate 

 place is ample reward for an hour's patience. The 

 least noise, an incautious step, or even the cracking 

 of the ice will send them scurrying down into their 

 burrows in the frozen mud or through the water 

 under the ice to safer quarters. The interior of the 

 house is a low, ice-lined dome, with a floor of open 

 water leading down into ramified burrows. In a house 

 recently visited near the city the water was crowded 

 with living mud-minnows, and the stains on the icy 

 walls gave suspicious proof that the occupants had 

 indulged in a fish diet. The Muskrat has an accommo- 

 dating nature and may degenerate into the common 

 Ufe of a Sewer-rat. But so long as he adheres to the 

 trying ideal of hving his own life and minding his own 

 business he should have at least an absolute immunity 

 from eviction while the ice is on the marsh. 



