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Muskrat — Part 3
Images coming soon.
Behind me was a dark swamp of heavy old growth hemlock where the great horned owls were calling loudly to each other. So long as they kept at that distance the muskrats apparently paid no heed to their hooting; but the instant that I replied to one of the owls, counterfeiting its hollow, low-toned voice as closely as I could, the nearest muskrat swung his tail in air and brought the flat of it down on the water with a whack, and it was most amusing to hear the succession of whacks that responded all along the edge of the water, farther and farther away, each followed by the hurried plunge of its owner beneath the surface. These great eagle owls are among the worst enemies that the muskrats have to fear, for they will watch patiently, hour after hour, from their ambush among the pine boughs and then suddenly circle out over the meadows without the whisper of a feather.
When a fox comes nosing along the stream's margin, at dusk, you may hear the warning slap, slap, of rubbery tails from hidden pools and nooks among the rushes, as the muskrats get wind of his presence. But the muskrat's tail has other and more important uses; it is both rudder and propeller as he swims, and a most convenient third leg when he stands upright to look about, or reach a higher twig when he is browsing in the undergrowth and, unless I am very much mistaken, it also gives him added impetus as he dives headlong into the water.
All through the summer and early fall the young muskrats live contented home lives with their parents, though not exactly under their protection, except as each depends on all the rest for timely warning at the first sign of danger; paddling and wading about in the shrunken streams and ponds, or curled into little brown, furry balls, fast asleep on the edge of the bank, hidden by the rank growth of flags and bullrushes, among which they have well-trodden paths, leading from place to place.
But in the late Indian summer comes their Wander-Jahre, when they start out on their travels, roving and unsettled, exploring strange meadows and streams, at times all alone, and again two or three families together; starting a new cabin here or a burrow when the bank looks promising, and then moving on again, leaving their work only half finished, until at last they find the place that suits them best and settle down for the winter, ready for months of fish-like living beneath the ice. In the spring they are hunted and trapped for their fur, shot while swimming in the swollen streams or resting on the banks; and caught in steel traps set under water at their landing places; sometimes a piece of apple, parsnip or carrot on the end of a stick a foot above the trap seems to entice them into it. A still more effective bait is the musk found on the old males at this season. It is contained in two flat, oval sacs, an inch or more in length, situated between the hind legs beneath and laid bare when the skin is stripped off.
This musk, which gives the animal its name, is so powerful that professional trappers become fairly impregnated with the odour in the course of the spring trapping.
The muskrat's fur is a rich, shiny brown, with pale silky under-fur like that of the beaver, only shorter and not so dense.
In its natural state the fur is often made up into caps, etc., and sold as mink and marten. Most of it, however, is plucked; the long hair being removed and the silky underfur dyed to resemble seal. The fur sold as "electric seal" is really only muskrat fur dyed.
Varieties of the Muskrat
1. Muskrat. Fiber zibethicus Linnaeus. Description and range as above.
2. Southern Muskrat. F. zibethicus rivalicus Bangs. Smaller and dull sooty in colour, "lacking all the beauty and lustre."
3. Dismal Swamp Muskrat. F. zibethicus macrodon Merriam. Much darker and richer coloured than the common muskrat with larger teeth.
4. Labrador Muskrat. F. zibethicus aquilonius Bangs. Smaller and darker than the common muskrat.
5. Newfoundland Muskrat. F. obscurus Bangs. Still smaller and darker, with different skull.
AMERICAN LONG-TAILED MICE AND RATS
(Sub-family Cricetinae)