200 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by George Shiras, 3c 



MUCH ENGROSSED 



Daylight picture of a mnskrat on the edge of new ice, feeding upon moss taken from the 



bottom of the lake. 



foundation of the superstructure, and in 

 one instance the animal entered the hol- 

 low end and then, through a hole in the 

 top of the log, reached the house (see 

 page 194). 



A MUSKRAT HOME] ON A RAFT 



Probably the strangest of all these 

 homes are depicted on pages 196 and 197, 

 where the animals used large rafts an- 

 chored in the lake and put there for that 

 purpose by the writer. 



Sometimes the house material used by 

 the beaver and muskrat is completely re- 

 versed, for when reeds and moss are 

 scarce the muskrat occasionally builds a 

 house out of sticks and mud (see page 

 193), while the beaver, in a prairie coun- 

 try, has been known to construct its lodge 

 entirely of aquatic vegetation, resembling 

 that of the muskrat except for its size. 



Both these animals are particular in 

 having one or more entrances to their 

 homes beneath the water, and when the 

 water recedes the canals are deepened, so 

 as to maintain subsurface approaches. 



The muskrats of Whitefish Lake have 

 a habit of building small houses out of 

 moss on the ice-covered lake, using them 

 as resting and feeding places when seek- 

 ing water plants in the winter. 



In many parts of its range the muskrat 

 is supposed to raise from three to four 

 litters a year. Along a great portion of 

 the southern shore of Lake Superior I 

 have never seen any evidence of more 

 than one set of young a year. In this 

 section occurs one of the deepest snow- 

 falls of the country, and this unusual con- 

 dition doubtless affects the muskrat. 



About Whitensh Lake the waters re- 

 main cold and high until after the mid- 

 dle of May, when vegetation responds 

 rapidly to the many hours of sunlight. 

 The first young are seen the middle of 

 July, and from that time on until the 

 early frost or the coming of the ice I have 

 never felt sure of having seen the young 

 of a second litter. 



THE: EDIBILITY OF THE MUSKRAT 



In recent years the flesh of the musk- 

 rat is becoming more and more esteemed. 

 Its unfortunate surname — rat — has done 

 more to excite a prejudice against its use 

 than all the other causes combined, es- 

 pecially among the feminine members of 

 the family. 



Its meat is dark red in color, fine- 

 grained and tender. According to the 

 Biological Survey, any unfavorable opin- 

 ion as to its flavor arises, probably, from. 



