222 



RECREATION. 



was not good at that point, and, deciding 

 to move farther down the river,, I went 

 to get my bass. Imagine my surprise 

 when I discovered 2 sleek muskrats feast- 

 ing on them Only 2 of the fish had 

 been touched, and it would evidently have 

 taken the rats a long time to finish them. 

 They could not make much progress with 

 their slender teeth and small, mouths, and 

 had only eaten small holes in the fish. 

 Farmers often attribute the loss of ducks 

 to muskrats, when in reality they are 

 killed by minks, weasels or other animals 

 of that class. 



One beautiful fall evening when out on 

 a prospecting tour for rats, I stretched 

 myself out on the grass along the bank 

 of a large pond, in which a number of 

 ducks and ducklings were disporting them- 

 selves. I had not been there many min- 

 utes when 3 rats came out. One of them 

 swam among the ducks, on its way across 

 the pond, where it gathered a mouthful of 

 grass and disappeared in a hole, without 

 paying the least attention to the ducks. 

 They did not seem alarmed, and merely 

 swam out of the rat's course. 



Mr. Loring, in the November number 

 of this magazine, says he always baits his 

 traps with meat. I can not see the use 

 of so doing, as it is really not necessary 

 to bait the traps at all, but merely to place 

 them on the runways and at the mouths 

 of the holes. By that method I have al- 

 ways had the greatest success. I never 

 had occasion to bait except for minks. 

 Mr. L. would doubtless have caught as 

 many rats without bait. I once tried bait- 

 ing my traps, but soon discontinued the 

 practice, for I discovered as many rats 

 were caught with unbaited traps. In the 

 fall muskrats build houses of brush, grass 

 and mud for winter quarters. In these 

 hotels, as they are termed by trappers, 

 traps are placed by cutting holes in the 

 walls; and often a number of rats can be 

 caught in a single house. If muskrats 

 were carnivorous they would probably 

 take into their holes small birds, fish and 

 animals, the same as they do vegetables, 

 herbs, grasses, etc. Never have I found, 

 nor heard of anyone else finding, the re- 

 mains of any living thing in a muskrat 

 house; which goes to prove, if they do 

 sometimes eat meat, they never carry it 

 to their homes. 



Muskrats seem to be docile creatures. 

 I have never seen them fighting among 

 themselves or with other animals. They 

 are cleanly and wash their food before 



Harry P. Hays. 



While duck hunting last fall on a large 

 marsh West of here, I had an excellent 

 opportunity to study the habits of the 

 muskrat. Often when the flight of the 



ducks was over and' everything was still, 



1 would watch the little muskrats swim 

 about, sometimes so near I could almost 

 touch them with my paddle. One evening, 

 to my sorrow, I left 3 black ducks in the 

 weeds, my intention being to find the'm 

 next morning. I found them, but with 

 their breasts so badly eaten that the birds 

 were almost useless. Another duck left 

 out over night we found on top of a rat 

 house, badly eaten also. The work was 

 done by muskrats, without doubt. 



Yelraf asks if anyone else has witnessed 

 hawks chasing birds in cities. I have seen 



2 cases, one in which a sharp shinned 

 hawk actually caught a sparrow from off 

 the middle of the street. 



R. C. W. Lett, Ottawa, Ont. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR SKUNK FARMERS. 



Is there any sure way to tell male 

 skunks: from female when running loose 

 in a pen or should they be divided when 

 young? What is the best and cheapest 

 feed to give skunks if one can not get 

 swill? Will they eat dry corn meal or 

 should it be mixed with water or skimmed 

 milk? Do you know of any good way to 

 catch them to stock up with? When 

 fencing a piece of ground would it be 

 advisable to put about one foot of the 

 wire screen in the ground to keep skunks 

 from digging out? Do they" ever climb 

 up the wire? Should they be watched at 

 night in the winter to keep people from 

 stealing them? Would 100 females; be too 

 many for a one acre lot or pen? I want 

 to keep about 20 females and put in about 

 10 males at a time. Would that be too 

 many? Would the first of March be too 

 early to put the first lot of males in for 

 breeding, and the first of May for the 

 second lot of males? Is it best to take 

 the first lot of males out when I put the. 

 second lot in? Is there, any way to mark 

 them? Do you know of any parties in 

 this, locality who would sell me enough 

 skunks to stock up with if I should not 

 be able to catch enough of them? Can 

 you recommend to me any book that will 

 tell me the nature of the polecat? I see 

 an advertisement in Recreation of odor- 

 less skunks for sale. Would they be any 

 good for fur bearing? 



F. S. Hoopes, West Chester, Pa. 



I referred this letter to Mr. Ramsay 

 Macnaughtan, of Pittsfield, Mass., who 

 replies as follows: 



Male skunks should run with females, 

 for breeding purposes only, and at the 

 proper season of the year. The sexes 

 must be handled to be distinguished. Un- 

 marketable vegetables, and refuse from 

 the garden are the best and cheapest 

 feed. Corn meal will be eaten either dry 

 or wet, but vegetables, roots and swill 



