Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1904-07-28
MUskRATs UNDER SNOW.
Had to Make Tunnels to Seek for
Food During the Last
Snowy Winter.

After slight snowfall, the wild
creatures going about their daily work
'eave very legibie record behind
them. Not only may their footprints
be plainly seen upon the surface. but
each footprint viii be about tne same
size as the foot which made il; ana
moreover, the details OF the toes and
toenails will all be present for exam
nation. When the snow is<deeper the
individual footprints may still be there.
but tna fine details viii be lost. and
as Il becomes still deeper, even the
separate footprints viii be lost beneath
the snow, which falls into and partly
obliterates the tracks. Eventually
there is a point at which some Of the
animals no longer attempt TO travel
on the snow; they find it easier or
more to the purpose TO travel on the
ground beneath it.
After one Of the recent heavy snow
storms, relates a writer in the Boston
Herald, | was walking by the side Of
a stream where muskrats are abunG-
ant. and where their tracks are usually
10 be found. either in the mud or the
snow, the whole year round There
was not sign Of their having left the
water, and. indeed, the stream and the
meadows on either side Of 1t presented
one unbroken field Of snow.
However I knew that if they we're
alive they must be getting food some
where. as they do not store supplies
as the beavers do; so | walked along
TO Investigate Without warning
sank to the hips in a hole which
proved to be the mouth Of a muskrat
burrow
/ cleared away some of the snow,
and It became evident that the burrow
was in daily use, and that it con-
nected with a tunnel which ran out
under the snow Procuring snow
shovel from a farm near by. / removed
the upper surface of the snow from a
considerable section Of the field. and
uncovered a subway system which. for
completely. outdid the underground
railways in any OF our large cities
The tunnels ran far out into the field.
sometimes in long, irregular single
loops and sometimes crossing and re-
crossing other tunnels, until il was no
easy matter 10 trace them. But all the
tunnels led 10 the hole into which /
had accidentally stepped and this was
very suggestive Of a great railroad ter
minus.
The whole represented no insignif-
cant engineering feat on the part Of
the rats. which had evidently been
hunting for grains Of corn, for it was
a cornfeld they had been working in.
and gnawed husks here and there
showed that they had probably had
at least some success.
Later In the afternoon came to an
other cornfeld. where, for some reason.
the shocks had been left since the fall
Many Of them were still standing. but
some had been blown over by a wind.
which had also swept away much OF
the snow, leaving In many places not
more than an inch
The surface Of this, particularly be.
tween the shocks, was marked BY mar
row ridges, which Indicated as plainly
as a map could have done. the routes
taken by some small animals in their
journeys from one shock TO another.
BY carefully scraping away the sur
face snow, found that the ridges we're
the roofs Of tunnels made by meadow
mice. and | presently verified the OBJ
servation by suddenly opening one Of
the shocks. TO see several dark brown,
short-tailed thieves scurrying away
among the cornstalks. Under most Of
the shocks were little hound holes In
the ground. evidently the entrances to
the subterranean homes Of the mice.