The Oregon daily journal., November 07, 1909, Page 21, Image 21

PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 7, 1909
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' dering thoiisands of thff, helpless cre.ature-8, no -;
fewer than six or eight rata often being' killed at
one shot. Many that were killed were never re- ',
...-covered. . " : "' . ; '
'"When a muskrat is shot it splashes about at
1 a furious rate, usually, diving before Uife is ex
" tinct, and if it can seize a root or tussock of
grass with its teeth, it dies there without relax .
' ing its hold. Thus shooting proved very: waste ' ' ' "
fuJ, and the trapping industry was imperiled; '
'hence the preventive". legislation Of eourse, on, - ,
moonlight nights some shooting is still done, and
: a few lawbreakers still use dark lanterns surrep .
titiously. v , ; i ' ',"1-
v Various devices have been used in catching v
the muskrat." At one time the spear or gig was
used. The hunter with' this instrument in his
hand slipped up cautiously to the muskrats' 1 t '
house and thrust its tines into the sunnyside of-. .
, the home, where, perhaps, six or eight rats were '
sleeping v .
jfhe; Remark
Denwnclow Made Onl
;the Little Swamp Animal :
' . TyTER Ymcek and instgnlficant looking
' i- is the little muskrat; as. it dodges
; ' ; - hurriedly from water's edge to its
humbte hbmeZ in ,i the marsh, yef it . has
become recognized, recently as one of the
world's most important fyr-lqring.ammals
-.4fr. . C:" w,, J. IX; . - - '?h!:MfVfte. ,
i tn ii I r r ' f
, automobilist, for ' women's furs , and for.
. many, other purposes. - '.
vk" I -a. -- - -
In nintrf numheri musltrats Droduce - UW tie other day tt was announced
more furs than any othr animal on the conJ' tn"t American muskrats had ' been taken in
tinent; in value this prvductyieldrfirst place 'Bohemia, where; it is
only to the mink. The skin of the muskrat . hoped to acclimatize them and buitd up a
is being used extensively for the coat of theC profitable fur business in Eurtpfp?.. .
selves. Traypera declare that a pair of musk'
rats' will produce, on an average, fifteen young a
-year.
These are cared for in the old winter houses
or in new ones, much smaller in size, built. espe
cially for the' young.''' Many rear their young in
holes in banks of streams, where' there is, greater
safety. During; the mating season the rats are
Jess shy,and tfiay'be studied at close range".
Their antics-in' the water are as graceful as
they are interesting. The presence of man is
no hindrance' to their increase. , In the Chesa
peake region' the trappers,, in some instances,,
have been" catching muskratsjustbeyondthe
7town limits ior half a century.-: , r -
. Muskrats maker their homes in the banks of
creeks, rivers and stagnant pools, on the 'shores
of bays and lakes in fact, almost wherever there "
is water but seem to thrive best in the marshes
for nothing else.. Its food consists principally, of
herbaceous roots, although clams when" conven
er; If the spear, happened to strike, through ther
nesL a rat or two were" killed, while the others
UCl UBUCUU3 IWWt SIMIUUKU VilUUil nuvu VVU w v . w . - . m
ient enter into the menu. ' Tender young corn- - reaped mto the water through the'everai run-
stalks are choice forage for rata not living in a
marsh. ; , ." ' . t . ,
The musk, which gives the rat its name,-is
secreted in two glands ' If .in tho. process, of
skinning these glands are accidentally ' cut, rthe
musk makes the meat unfit for food- It is de
tected the moment the "cooking begins, when -the
sickening odor lls the room.
wavs. After, the nest had been opened and the
game removed, the breach was -mended in order V
that the rats which had escaped might ' return,
only t4 be ruthlessly- disturbed agam the next ( ,
time the hunter passed by. Once in aJgreat while , -t
an otter sleeping in a rat'house. was' speared-
lucky thrust for the trapper. XZlui ,
The dmwg - box.waa, I qraeriy extensively
.1 Jt l -1 J .M.a v TUia knT Traa Sf in f
Trapping the muskrat in Delaware has b- . 1 L .11ph . tuition that . the rats in-.
By Arthur Rijsmisellc Miller Spaid
k - . .. , . -. i
and Manitoba
grounds.
contain well-known-- trapping
' I TIESE Bohemian importers,' it seems, knew ' Of the fur-bearinc' animals iil'the United
1 little of the habits of the animals.' -The States, three-fourths are aquatic, and of these
-r-- first large- consignment' wenf to park-the- meat of the muskrat aloner.isrusedf or ood.
at Dobris, ; which contains a large pond." .The .trapper-in the Chesapeake region readily
It was expected that the muskrats would settle disposes, of the skinned carcasses at 5 -cents
down quietly in their new home,' as a flock of apiece to Jiis village neighbors or to-a regular
-J A J . I . " I .
alone the banks of a tidal river. In rasa thev 1
live along streams running through a hilly coun-, important in recent years, as to ,requii!?V turnini to their sleeping - quarters entered
try they seldom huild houses, as they always do' Ifgislafaon for, its , successful ,s continuance r , . ,8eme)i to be a dark hallway, which, in '
wuwwuj,. , nun..., i ' " f" "'fact, was nothing but a prison full ot comparv
light, a practice long in vogue, has been prohib- ffom there' was no escape, although
lted by law, and the open season shortened. -f.; the outer endwas always open until, thabox was
.-..-' SHOOTING NOT SATISFACTORY ulL V , " ' '
. :., ', In thiis th4rapper ..of ten found Jjajf a dozea
. Shooting never was satisfactory to the in- , rats, hiit some-of these were sure .to be .alive,
teliigent and , thought! ul . trapper. , In the fcrat .having entered after the tide-went out. -iseiore
in marshes, ,but burrow instead in the banks of
the streams. Here they often -damage races,
embankments and milldams. .
-Houses built by the' muskrat on the marshes
are scarcely ;les interesting than Jodges Lbuilt .by
the beaver, They are sometimes so numerous as
to give to the marsh the appearance 'of a hav-
helu lull ot tfny.nayeoeic3.-ln choice localities place, it waa very unfair to the honest trapper
dealer, - who . ships them to the city - markets.
where they retiil forfrom 8 "to. 12 cents each.
One of, these ocalers shipped to the markets of
' Wilmington ana Philadelphia during one month
an average of 6000 carcasses a week. .
' . -PREFERRED T.O RABBIT
Dealers drive through the trapping districts, ,
paying cash at the trapper J door, for this meat.
It is dark and bloody in appearance, which un
doubtedly keeps it from bringing a higher price.
The colored ! people are especially Jond of the
meat, and many white persona consider it, when
properly cooked, far superior to rabbit. - In fact,
sold. in some city restaurant as "marsh rabbity"
it has become quite popular. ':'
" The muskrat is 'a prolifie breeder,' two ,er
three litters beinff broucht forth in a seaaon.-
-Of thee.ihe CHcmpV rin that rding! each-wnistifcg-ef from three -to nine kitten.
on the Chesapeake and "Delaware tars is, per- . Those born early ia the spring tray brin& forth -Itipt,
theccost noted, while Jiissouri'Minnesota' litters-in' the 'latter part, of the season tbeia--,
domestic ducks would have done;
- Those who cherished this hope" were consid-,
erably surprised to find that the rats insisted
upon selecting homes for themselves. They soon
.spread over the. neighborhood and into .other
parts of 'the province, one of them being cap
tured far to the south of I'rague, , . s
The muskrat, or musquash, as the Indians
called it, is peculiar to North America. It is es
timated that 6000 men and boys are more of less
actively engaged in trapping it, which brings to
them over 1500.000 every season. , The catch
amounts to 5,000,000 skins annually, nearly
4.000,000 cominjr from the United States and tha ;
remaining 1,000,000 from Canada. .'-. - , , K
In thevi two wide domains the muskrat ia
found in almot every suitable location, and in
rertain we 11 -defined territori- La very abundant.
-in the fall when house-building, is in order, an
acre or rorfftof Veeds, ru3h;s and cattails may
be cut clJflfn byhe fmairsh rabbit.'. .
Many of these are three or four feetliigh,
while others in the same marsh are much lower.
Old rata doubtless build the larger houses. The
plana are simple, consisting of a base built of
mud and sticks, with se feral openings affording
easy ingress and egress.
Above this is a great heap of reeds and
rushes, the nest of finer material being placed
near the top-cf the Apne-shaped structure, Ia
this cosy bed, warmed tytlje- sun, six or eight
rata usually sleep when not foraging. '
The mu'krst is con'irred very cleanly ia
its habits. Despite the act'that it "may swim
through the muddiest 'ef; water, .the creature,
enters its sleeping quart ts perfectly dry, the
for raiting a wetting while the animal is alive,
T-r Like the raecoorw it wrjdps its food before
eating and d.nes as-a.ru.e-at a special spot.
tho had aosarsh rented to have no protection
against the fellow who was too lazy to trap and
yet who entered a boat at night with a dark lan
tern and a shotgun and, floating up and down
a stream with the tide,' shot as many as fifty rats
in i aingle evehggMght among the traps set on
the banks of the stream by his neighbor who
paid for the privilege. ..Furthermore, shooting
injured the fur and. therefore lowered the price
for pelts' s " . '
- -The open season was shortened ia the fall to
December 1 to protect the many immature rats,
a . . -a a v . . i
ana in tne spring to Jisrcn i to preveotne
t. trPter could take out hi catch he had t
carry' the box to' deep water and drown the live
rata.' '.- C 1 ' , ' '. - '
.. Winn the steel trap came into-use the div- ;
ing box was laid aside, and, with the exception
of the snare or ."snood," the trspper relies alto
gether on. the steeL trap, which is less trouile
and costs, with the chain, only about cents.
The, principal objection to the steel trap is that
a, rat caught at low tide may twist or gnaw cJ
ita'foot-and escape before the next tide coming
in drowns it. . ,
; Traps are . set in runwars between tz ,
hou?a and feeding grounds. They are burie j
Trappers assert that aome of the houses are used guns rowed around ia the 'fiooded districts, mar-
great slaughter fJ rata during high tides and. in the mud and fastened by means cf chsirj a
.floods f early ipin, vchen the rata art driven .' foot in length to poles about an inch ia Laniet?r
from their hiding places by the high water. . ., and three or four feet long. Tne po! ar
. . On these occasions, before shooting was pre- stuck into the soft earth and are tall enough t
vented,, the rats took refuge on the tops of their be seen above the rushes and eattails.-thus fur
housea, on floating lor and' drift," and where niching aTeady means of locating the trap,
there was a tauSeway it fuli befllledwith tha" A regular "trirpor dW IM 'U4 H:?. 1 ,
"Tittle tearers. Men and ooys araed wita shot- "relies'whHr o-r hi akill to rot Il trp ;a t. j