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THE VIRGINIA DEER 
Line drawing from the mounted specimen. This Virginia doe stands as the first example 
in the Museum of the new methods of animal sculpture as opposed to the old taxidermy 
Another fur-bearing animal shown is the muskrat. In the group are 
seen its summer home, usually a burrow in the bank of a 
{ Muskrat : ; F 
| stream or pond, and its winter mound, constructed of swamp 
| grass and roots mixed with mud. Muskrats are extensively trapped for 
| their fur. 
| The woodchuck or ground hog is a vegetable feeder but does very little 
harm to crops. It hibernates for a large part of the year 
usually from September to April. The old legend says that 
4 the ground hog comes out of his hole on the second of February and if it is 
bright and he sees his shadow, he goes back into his hole for 
Hares and ; 
Sicrerlieete six weeks longer and we may expect more cold weather. Other 
groups represent the varying hare and the common species 
of squirrels. 
. Woodchuck 
In the central section of the hall is a group of moose. It represents an 
early autumn scene in a secondgrowth forest in New Brunswick, and illus- 
trates one of the favorite feeding grounds of the moose. 
Beyond the moose exhibit are species of mammals found 
within fifty miles of New York City, namely Virginia deer, 
the otter and the wild cat or lynx. The buffalo group gives a typical bit 
of the prairie traversed by buffalo trails, while the members of the herd 
represent different stages of growth of the buffalo. This is 
the animal which formerly roamed in countless numbers 
over the western plains but which is now reduced to a few insignificant herds. 
48 
Moose 
Group 
Bison Group 

