STORY OF THE MUSQUASH. 
There are few American boys who have not had some experience with 
the musquash, commonly called muskrat. I have trapped hundreds of them 
accidentally. By this I mean that I have set traps for beavers, otters and minks, 
and upon visiting them, the next day would find in a number of them only 
muskrats, instead of the prey I was after. 
The musquash is a massively-built animal about a foot in length, with a tail 
ten inches long. The general color of the fur is blackish brown, turning into 
gray on the muzzle and under parts, and has the soft and velvety texture of 
that of the beaver. It is, however, mostly shorter than in the latter, although 
on the back and flanks there are interspersed a number of longer bristle-like 
hairs. 
The geographical range of the musquash extends from the so-called barren 
grounds of Arctic America to the genial climate of the Rio Grande, while it 
also reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Musk-rats are thoroughly adapted for life in the water, and generally 
frequent ponds, swamps and sluggish streams. Although their food consists 
mainly of the roots of grasses and water-plants, they consume considerable 
quantities of river mussels; they will likewise catch and eat fish, while they 
are said at times to devour the flesh of such individuals of their own species 
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