THE MUSK-RAT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22429, 16 June 1938, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE MUSK-RAT

Musquash is such a useful .fur that one might think; it would be profitable to bring musk-rats into any country; but the skins obtained do not begin to make up for the damage done by these animals. While foxes may be confined in furfarms, nobody can keep musk-rats within bounds. In their home in North America they are kept in check by their natural enemies* when they are taken to England

they' thrive so well and increase, in numbers so rapidly that, if men do not work bard trapping them they become a real danger. Musk-rats are much larger rodents than the native water-voles of. England, and as most of their lifeis spent in gnawing, their work soon becomes noticeable. Their fore-" paws have short thumbs bearing claws that help them to grasp the plants they use for food, and for building purposes, but their strong teeth are even more important. They munch quantities of plant

food, including valuable crops, and also eat fresh-water mussels, fishes, and sometimes even fowls. Muskrats live in colonies, numerous animals often sharing one “lodge,” a sheltering mound made of reeds and mud, and in their home-making they tunnel deep into river banks, undermining them, and frequently destroy dams, thus causing floods. . It is now illegal to import muskrats or to run a musquash farm m England, but it will take some time to • rid the country completely of these destructive animals.