OUTDOOR HAPPENINGS 
15 November 1973 
What I am about to describe may not be new to you 
but it is new to me. I was born on a farm and have 
lived in the country most of my life so that I am fairly 
conversant with the habits of both beaver and muskrats 
but this is the first time that I have seen muskrats 
building copies of the beaver houses. 
Along this stretch of the Rideau, the water has 
been lowered for the past number of years. There are 
more than a dozen families of muskrats in view from our 
property and this year, for the first time as far as I 
know, the muskrats have abandoned their burrows in the 
bank and prepared new ones under rocks some two to 
three feet in diameter at the water’s edge. Several 
families have had to move a second time as the water is 
still dropping in level. One family has taken up resi¬ 
dence under or in an old steel barrel - I counted nine 
muskrats leaving it once when I disturbed them. 
These ’winter residences’ are covered with weeds 
to a depth of up to a foot, probably for insulation 
although the barrel is only partly covered so far. 
I observed a muskrat for about half an hour the other 
day gathering weeds and laying them on top of the rock 
under which he and another muskrat had taken up resi¬ 
dence. I was only about 25 ft. away but he was so busy 
that he didn’t notice me. He swam out about 10 ft. or so, 
dived and headed for the rock while under water. Near 
it, he came to the surface with his head completely 
covered with weeds which he deposited on the rock by 
backing. He wasted no time between trips. 
I have been fascinated by the activities of these 
little animals and also of beaver which have houses 
here as well. Anyone interested in observing these 
animals is welcome. The telephone number is 269-3267. 
The Reverend W. S. Sutherland 
Strathnaver, Merrickville, Ontario KOG 1N0 
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