The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-01-01

h thn n''e's, LA ~. "uu e.iruuSonly a few days
.u .;I oio; tne which they lay was
rts SsSufy grass, foot in diameter,
well followed out. From this centre
three passages led out; one was visible
in the side of the creek bank at low
water, and the others went to compose
the network of holes with which the bank
was honcycombed. During my exami-
nation an occasional muilled splash in
these subterranean channels told of the
anxious mothers presence. Though
the disturbed material was carefully
replaced, the mother rat had made
extensive repairs before my next visit a
week later, when, to my disappointment,
l procured only the empty nest. The
young had doubtless been led away on
my approach.
AS cold weather approaches, the
builds a wiuter home. This is usually
located in a marsh, aud contains fully u
CARLOAD of material, principally rushes,
mud, and sticks. The inside chamber,
about the size of a bushel basket, has a
platform raised just above the water,
into which the rats plunge at any dis
turbance from without. Usually there
are two or more holes under the surface
of the water, which join before they
enter the interior. In many places,
however, the rats seem to live in their
burrows in the banks the year round.
The food of the muskrat is principally
grasses and roots, varied with fresh
water mussels in cold weather, when
other food is difficult to procure. They
deftly open these mussels, but how they
do it is amystery to me, although have
seen them perform the feat number Of
times. Some of their tastes brings them
into conflict with the farmer, whose
meadows they also undermine. Green
juicy stalk, aud in the autumn | have
seen several bushels OF ear corn piled in
deep water for future use. They also
make themselves obnoxious to millers and
canal companies, because of the frequent
a;,d. destructive leaks in the banks oc-
's,orssed by their burrowiny habits.
Aisnous-yh they ar. poisoned aad
appeT oy peesssons witt whose business
ley lpseriere, ,apd ,re destroyed b.
lwks, owls, foxeSs. aud -minks, thei,
rincipal enemy is Tbs. melt .hupf-of>r.
Professional fur .gathdrer. Tie mGslxrats
kin "is his worst enemy.n- About H.
OO, 600 Of these skins are taken annually
n this continent. The skin is usei in
variety of ways. Sometimes, when
Tucked aud dyed, it initiates the costly
,al, but it is oftcner used in its natural
ate for muffs, caps aud clothing. Thy
luskrat's prolific breeding has SO far
reserved it from the fate of its cousin,
le beaver, and unless somc great
hanSc takes place, its extinction
many years OF. 1t is usually
ne first victim OF the amateur fur
rapper, and its skin is found in the
ack of nearly every travelling buyer. In
ne Eastern States the muskrat is found
lost abundantly in the marshes of New
ersey, Delaware, Maryland and Vir-
inia; and here thrive the professional
rattcrs," as they are called. From the
9th of November until the same time
April, these men reap their furry har-
est. Some rats are taken by shooting
y moonlight or iackli and also by
pearing when the marshes are frozen
'hese methods, however, damage the
NILS, ahu thc Stclt nliJOlltS arc lflppcI.
he steel trap Is used with success every
here but on the tidal marshes, where
mother trap more destructive is employ
d. This is nothing more than length
stovepipe or a wooden box of the
sme size, with wire gate in each end,
hich yields to pressure from the out
de, but which the rats efforts to escape
My serve to close the tighter. At low
de the CRATER sets these traps in the
ole C"lead" is the professional tcrm,
nd at low tide next day he visits them.
S many as six rats have been taken in
ne OF these simple traps in single
lght, and, of course, drowuel by the
des.
The most common method in trapping
lem Is to set No. o or l steel trap at
'me place along stream where the rat
nds to feed. The trap must be ar
'nged to throw the trapped animal into
eep water and drown it, or, on the
'proach of daylight and its accompany
g dangers, it will amputate its foot and
escape. Many three legged rats arc
ken in the traps. These traps are
Sht and cheap, and one man can some.
mes set and tend $50 of them. The
eat OF the muskrat is sometimes used as
cd, but principally by Indians. -NeU
0rk Dyess /