IS 



FARMERS* BULLETIN 869. 



could be found in sections Prom which muskrats are now absent. As 

 trapping is done in winter, the business of muskrat farming is espe- 

 cially adapted to farmers and farmers' boys. 



The improvement of the muskrat's pelage by selective breeding 

 has never been attempted. Probably the black muskrat could be 

 bred true to color and greatly improved in the localities it now 

 inhabits, and could be introduced successfully into other sections of 

 the country. Indeed, to make the most of the muskrat industry 

 requires that the possibilities of selective breeding be tested. 



DESTROYING MUSKRATS. 



Its destructive habits make the muskrat a pest in comparatively 

 few places. On the whole,' and especially in large marshes and 

 uninhabited sections, its economic value far outweighs the harm it 

 does. On many of the streams it inhabits, no attempts have been 

 made to impound water for use, and hence the animal does not inter- 

 fere with engineering operations. In all such situations and in 

 swamps the muskrat should have ample protection to insure a present 

 and future fur supply. The present value of the pelt is an incentive 

 to excessive trapping. 



Mill owners and superintendents of canals, irrigation works, and 

 levees sometimes are confronted with the necessity for active opera- 

 tions against muskrats, and should know the more effective methods 

 of combating them. It must be confessed that the usual means have 

 not been very successful. Bounties have never effected more than a 

 temporary reduction of their numbers. Shooting ordinarily makes 

 the survivors exceedingly wary. Trapping is more successful, but 

 it can seldom be carried to the limit of practical extermination. 



Methods of trapping are effective in both summer and winter, but 

 when green food is abundant greater care is needed in the selection 

 of baits. With enough steel traps placed in favorable locations the 

 danger to embankments may be diminished greatly. The barrel trap 

 will sometimes bring quicker relief, since it often captures an entire 

 family of muskrats at one setting. Whenever possible, trapping 

 these animals should be deferred until their skins are prime. 



Muskrats can be destroyed much more rapidly by poisoning than 

 by trapping. Powdered strychnin sweetened with powdered sugar 

 or commercial saccharin and sprinkled over freshly cut pieces of 

 apple, carrot, or ripe squash has proved effective in many cases. 

 Crystals of the same poison inserted in the baits with a knife also 

 have given good results. Care must be taken to keep poisoned 

 baits where they will not endanger other valuable wild or domestic 

 animals. 



