QUADRUPEDS. 79 
above the water-mark, and feeds on fish, frogs, and 
insects. 
Water Rats live near rivers and ponds in summer, and 
when winter approaches they frequent the farm-house, 
burrow in the corn-fields, infest the mows and stacks, at- 
tack the poultry-yard, and commit vast depredations. 
THE MUSK RAT (Fiber zibethecus) 
Is a native of Canada, and resembles the beaver in many 
of his habits of life. He has a fine musky scent, and 
makes his holes in marshes, and by the waterside, with 
two or three ways to get in or go out, and several distinct 
apartments, in the manner of the beaver: he is said to 
contrive one entrance to his hole always below the water, 
that he may not be frozen out by the ice. He lives upon 
small fish and water insects, as well as vegetables. This 
animal is called the Musquash in America, and its fur is 
used, like that of the beaver, in the manufacture of hats, 
four or five hundred thousand skins being said to be sent 
to Europe every year for that purpose. Musk Rats are 
always seen in pairs ; and though watchful, they are not 
timid, as they will often approach quite close to a boat or 
other vessel. In spring they feed on pieces of wood, 
which they peel carefully ; and they are particularly fond 
of the roots of the sweet flag (Acorus Calamus). In Canada 
this animal is called the Ondrata. 
