The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-06-19
TRAPPING
How the Business L. Conducted by New
Jersey and Maryland Trappers.

How the Business L. Conducted by New
Jersey and Maryland Trappsrs.
Many a young lady who moves
around in the proud possession of a
presumed sealskin cap or muff is very
grievously mistaken. The articles in
question, in nine cases out of ten,
never saw Alaska in any form. New
Jersey or Maryland furnished the ma
terial to make them, for the hide of the
despised and humble muskrat, when
dressed by skillful hands, makes the
best imitation Of sealskin, an imitation
30 close, that the true is only separated
from the false after the most careful
examination. 1t is IN equally egregious
error to imagine that the New Jersey
fisherman becomes dormant in winter
time. On the contrary, he is wide
awake and occupies his time trapping
muskrats. The salt marshes on the
line Of the Jersey coast are full of
muskrats, and the supply seems to be
inexhaustible. Muskrats are naturally
~herbivorous. They feed on land and
water plants alike, in some instances
using root stems and fruit. They are
noted enemies of the "bottom ground"
farmer, for it is in his fields that corn
grows most plentiful, and on that
cereal muskrats love to feed. They eat
corn at any time after it is planted,
taking the seed from the ground or the
young plant from the furrow. The
greatest damage is done after the ear
Is well formed. Their food is not en-
tirely vegetable, for in winter and in
early spring they subsist to a great ex-
tent on the flesh of river mussels. The
muskrat does not come out of his lair
in the daytime, save on rare occasions.
Sometimes on very dark cloudy days
he may be seen swimming across the
pond or down the stream with his head
just above water. It is an ugly,
vicious-looking animal with ugly claws
and long white teeth. He is a fair
swimmer, and his capacity for staying
under water is extraordinary. His
home, if the stream or pond has a high
bank, is a little hollow place under
ground, five or six feet from the
waters edge, and the entrance is
under water. The hallway, after
it has penetrated the bank, curves
gradually upward, and at its end, in
his snug little subterranean chamber,
the muskrat spends his day in sleeping
or in storing away food for winter. 1t
makes the trapper happy when he finds
the entrances to these houses. When
he finds one he places his trap just in
the entrance. If the rat is caught he
will probably drown, as the weight of
the trap and his efforts to escape will
tire him, and he will sink below water.
A favorite method of catching the
muskrat in his own house is to cut off
the top of his domicile and bury the
trap in the center of his messy bed.
The box trap is the favorite one for
streams, as it is easily made, and sew
eral rats are often captured in a single
night. 1t consists of a long straight
box, made with entrances at both ends
large enough to admit a muskrat
~~~~;IJ. IN ehs ena- ~~e 6,ed s~tns
made Of stout wire, slanting toward
the inside of the box which can be lift
ed up easily by the rat going in but can
not be opened outwardly. The box is
sunk in the middle of a stream and Sc
curely anchored by big stones being
placed on its top. Then stakes are
driven from the box to each side of the
stream. The muskrat finds his way
barred by the stakes, swims into the
trap, discovers he can not get out, and
browns. The muskrat is no coward.
If he is taken on dry ground and the
jaws of the trap have caught his leg
pretty well down near the toe, the rat
not being able to pull away will gnaw
off his leg just above where the trap
holds it. When found alive he fights
desperately and requires many a blow
on the head to silence him. When
there is nc other way of escape, he
makes a dash at the %trapper's leg, and
if he one catches hold, his sharp white
sink into the bone and his strong
jaws cling to the unfortunate hunter
with the tenacity of a bulldog. Too
venturesome amateur trappers often
find their way home with fingers hang
ing in shreds and big holes in their
hands, the result of fooling with a cor
nered muskrat. Y. Mail and En-