646 
FOREST AND STREAM 
December, 1920 
MUSKRAT TRAPPING 
By F. E. Brimmer. 
W HEN Adam named all the ani- 
mals he must have only gotten a 
good look at the tail of the one 
he called the muskrat. Fact is that he 
is not a rat at all and his musk is hard- 
ly noticeable. The name muskrat has 
been in such disfavor in the fur trade, 
as far as the finished product is con- 
cerned, that this fur has seldom come 
from the dresser and appeared made 
up under its true name. Nobody liked 
the idea of wearing a rat pelt and musk 
suggested something disagreeable. 
However, within the last few years the 
muskrat has steadily grown in favor 
until today he is the most popular fur- 
bearer. 
Since the muskrat lives in water so 
much his pelt is one of the best. Only 
the beaver stays more under and in 
water than the muskrat and indeed 
there is not much difference. Hence 
it has been discovered that the humble 
’rat carries a pelt that may be used in 
place of more costly and less numerous 
skins. So this furbearer has paraded 
on the market as near seal, sable, river 
mink, fur beaver and a great many 
others, as well las by his own name of 
late. For this reason there is a bigger 
demand evey year for muskrat skins. 
A pelt that brought me fifteen cents 
when I began trapping will fetch three 
dollars into my pocket this winter. 
You may want to go after those 
muskrats this winter that have lived 
over in the big marsh, or maybe along 
the brook or in the river bank. Even if 
you do not see the familiar house of the 
muskrat you must not believe that he 
does not still live there. Of late years 
the ’rats have found that trappers can 
locate them too easily when they build 
houses and so they have taken to living 
in dens bored in the banks with en- 
trances under water. At least that is 
the way it appears for in places where 
fifteen years ago there were always 
many of these houses, there are none 
today. Many trappers pass right by, 
but I have watched in the summer and 
seen the busy muskrats taking bedding 
into their homes under the banks, gath- 
ering wild onions to store for winter, 
and clearing out their water runs. So 
I know they have adopted a new method 
of living, due to twentieth century con- 
ditions of traps and trappers. 
If you cannot see houses in places 
where you think there may be muskrats 
you should not infer at once that they 
are not there. Look over the muddy 
T/f/'E are depending upon the 
rr friends and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or wrote of 
them with quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camping 
and “ going light ” have been 
adopted by the United States Army ; 
his canoe has been preserved in the 
Smithsonian Institution; and we 
hope that all good woodsmen will 
contribute to this department their 
Hints and Kinks and trail-tested 
contrivances . — [Editors.] 
places well and if you can see a track 
like that I have sketched on the draw- 
ing below the picture of the muskrat, 
you may be sure that ’rats are present. 
You will also find places where they 
have washed and eaten their wild onions 
and other food. Also be sure to look 
for paths and droppings. If you find 
this evidence of muskrats be sure to 
put your traps there this winter. 
Never trap right near the entrance 
to the homes of the muskrat, no matter 
whether a house or hole in the bank. 
Remember that you should not try to 
catch all the animals or molest their 
homes, for this will only (result in 
frightening the furbearers and cause 
them to move to another section. I 
have seen whole colonies of them driven 
from one section and migrate to another 
and safer home site. In this the 
muskrat is like the beaver, and indee^ 
these two fur-bearing animals resemble 
each other greatly. 
U SE a steel trap that is a full size 
larger than the trap companies 
recommend for muskrats in order 
to be sure to grip the leg high up. Or 
else buy a trap that is made especially 
for ’rats with a double high grip. Stake 
the trap always where the animals can 
get to deep water, for they will then 
drown quickly and thus mercifully put 
their troubles to an end. Use a slide 
pole or long wire to enable the captives 
to reach deep water from land sets. 
Water sets will almost always enable 
deep water to be readily reached. 
Set your traps in well beaten muskrat 
paths or on logs where their tracks 
show they enter and leave the water. 
Such a trap needs no bait, although 
some scent bait sprinkled about will 
help. Once you have caught one musk- 
rat the slight scent he leaves will be 
sure to call another and so the trap 
should be replaced. Muskrats have 
slides when they want to enter the 
water quickly and two or three traps 
should be set at the base of such places. 
A good set is to find a floating plank 
and on it set three or four traps, secur- 
ing each to the underside by a staple. 
Cover the traps with grass and' leaves 
that you find near and drop some sweet 
apple parings between the traps. Such 
a floating trap device has brought the 
writer as many as three pelts in a single 
night. In case this type tends to drift 
to shallow water it should be anchored. 
Never take all the animals from one 
place, even if you can, for you must 
remember future years and leave a few 
for seed. If every last trapper would 
do this there would never be the lack 
of good money for the amateur trapper. 
Skin the muskrat by the cased method 
and do not save the tail. Stretch the 
skin in the shape shown by the drawing 
with the skin side out. The stretcher 
should be eighteen inches long by eight 
inches wide. Keep the pelts on stretch- 
ers a week and hang them where it is 
dry and warm. Never put salt or alum 
on a skin for it injures it, and no fur 
buyer will give you so much as when 
