1892 
July 7 
Spent the entire forenoon at the Buttricks’ landing, 
watching the brood of young Flickers and the Muskrats. There 
M^^crats. 
in my 
boat-house 
I scratch 
* 
ie head 
or one 
were four of the latter in my boat-house under my canoe 
and a fifth beneath the boat-house in the water. I drew 
out the canoe without disturbing them and then crawled in. 
When I was within about four feet of them, three scuttled 
across the house and plunged down through a crack between 
the boards into the water. The fourth remained perfectly 
still and presently began to scratch his head with his 
hind paw. I cautiously thrust out a long straw and assisted. 
He started and showed his teeth for a moment, turning on 
the straw as if to bite it, but soon quieted down again 
when, dropping the straw, I substituted my forefinger and, 
of course, now worked to much better advantage, at first 
giving the back of the head a thorough scratching, next 
taking the sides of the neck and Anally stroking the back 
down to the tail. It was difficult to realize that I was 
actually handling a wild and perfectly free Muskrat for, 
after the first slight show of resentment, no kitten could 
have been gentler and more confiding. In a little while 
the eyes began to close and the animal gradually sank 
down on one side and was soon apparently fast asleep. 
Meanwhile the other three Muskrats had returned 
and were sitting in a group on the floor some four or five 
feet away, so I turned my attention to them. They evidently 
m 
