Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19
Following Along From Cradle
to Grave.
W ATCHING THE TRACKS
STRUGGLES FOR FOOD WHEN THE
SNOW COMES.
First Excursions of the Babies With
Their Mothers-Early
Lessons.

| Last winter l was walking along the
| shore of a frozen. snow recovered lake, when
| / came upon a muskrat house--a dark.
dome-shaped mass of leaves and turf rising
| some two feet above the surrounding Ice
| and capped with snow. Scarcely three feet
away there line of fox tracks, and
| twenty yards from the shore these were
| crossed by the trail Of a rufred grouse.
| who for some reason, had been walking
across the lake. The fox had not even
| stopped to sniff at the muskrat house, for
| perhaps no one knew better than he what "A
waste of time it would have been. Reynard
| is very fond of muskrats. and no doubt IN
| winter they would be more than acceptable.
| But it would take him a long time to
scratch through the thick walls of such a
| house as l was looking at. when they were
| frozen into one solid mass and 1t would
| take the muskrats something less than a
second to escape into the lake, through the
| doorways which were Well below the ice.
OF muSkrat tracks there was not q sign at
| this point but l knew that l should find
| them somewhere along the shore, for musk
rats seldom stay away from the land very
| long. Fifty yards further on l came TO a
| little creek, at the side of which dark
| spot showed where the ice very thin.
| This the spot which the muskrats kept
| open, and where they left and re-entered
| the water every night. From the dark spot
| in the ice there was well-beaten path
|
| bank, where it divided into several paths
| less well defined. Here the character Of u
| muskrat'S trail could be observed; the
| marks of the small fore feet the large,
| partly webbed hind feet, AMI between them
! all a single line, made by the sharp-edged,
| almost hairless tail as it had trailed on the
| ground behind A single trail led up to a
| clump of old apple trees, but the animal
| which made it had evidently been on a lit
| orally fruitless quest. for there was no sign
| of his having found anything eatable.
1g.Elt IL
| a quarter of a mile from the water, and
! here the snow presented the appearance OF
| a railway map, with lines crossing and re-
crossing each other in every direction At
frequent intervals there were holes in the
snow, scratched through to the bare
ground by the muskrats, who sought to
CLEAN few kernels of corn from the frozen
/ earth. In one place the snow had been cut
up, though two teams of pigmies had
been playing foot ball there and | found
explanation enough in the remains of n
single ear of corn, from which every kernel
I'd been eaten. No doubt the hungry
I uskrats had found the ear under the
! snow, and had hauled and pulled and
fought each other in their efforts to get a
share of the coveted food.
When Thaw Came
A few days afterwards we had some
warm weather, and the snow and ice melt
ed from the surface OF the lake After that
there came some clear, frosty nights, and
/
with strong, transparent ice | went to
/ visit the muskrat house. and when / came
! near ] ran out upon the ice and leaped
/ upon the dome of the little dwelling shak-
| ing 1t to its foundations. 1 could hear no
sound from the Interior but as | shook
| the structure, l saw three or four shadow
| forms shooting outward through the water
beneath the ice. OF course, these were the
rats, and managed to keep my eve on
one of them he paused close to a fallen
white birch log, close 10 the under sur
face of the ice. He had been there Der
haps a minute. when the idea OF tim
! ing him occurred to me- and | pulled out
my watch. For three minutes there was
not sign of movement and then a few
bubbles arose to the ice. About a minute
later, some more bubbles came up and
then the animal himself hoated up against
the ice. AT five minutes from the time |
took out the watch. the rat lay without a
sign OF life, and l began to lie anxious for
his safety, So stamped my foot upon the
ice, and like black streak he dived ana
was gone He had been under the water
AT least SIX minutes, and 10y the way he
| dlFed ana swan away afterwards he SEEM
ed little the worse for the experience.
Washed Out OF Home.
In the spring the freshets came. ana tba
| surface of the lake rose until the .Inus,,rat
house was almost submerged Then. one
morning, it was washed from its fa1luda
tions and the lighter parts of it fioated far
away. Then the muskFais took To The
banks, ana they dug long tunnels in the
soft soil Many of the tunnels Ind rvo
openings one at the top side eff the
Dahk, ana the other down Under the wafer
The last was the one they usually used
when entering or leaving their home; fbe
other served not only doorway occa-
slonaliy, but as an air shaft to ventiJate
the burroW Sometimes on warm EVENINGS
L would hide IN the bushes hear the bank
and watch the rats swimming about chas-
ing one another or lying nat on the surface
of the lake.
Sometimes 1 would see one honeward
bound, swim straight toward me until he
was within a few feet of the shore, and
presently ! would hear certain hollow
sound as he clambered into his burrow
through the submerged entrance Ana
sometimes. in the middle of the day. |
would see femafe rat gathering grass for
her nest. She would swim quietly TO a
spot where tie grass was thick. and land.
ing, she would walk about shedding the
water from her shining coat and bite Off
tuft after tuft OF grass, until her mouth
would hold 20 more. Then she would launch
herself INTO the water, swim to within a
snort distance of her burrow and dive A
few minutes later she, would reappear and
swim off for another load.
Wee Baby Rats.
In the burrows in the banks the young
muskrats born, and have seen these
little fellows at many stages OF their in1nla-
turity. AT first they blind and hairless
with very blunt noses, and with short
sturdy limbs and thickset bodies. When
they begin to get their fur they are pretty
little creatures, and soon they learn to
follow their mother out of the burrow and
even accompany her in excursions across
the lake or stream which they live
Sometimes have seen several of them sit
ting together on a log stone near the
water. into which they would scramble like
turtles at the first sign of danger, BY the
TALL they are practically fun grown, and no
doubt many of them help to gather turf
and sticks and leaves with which to make
a winter home.
ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES
Tho Soft