The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-01-26

ing your memory, YOU Will probably
find YOU have been thinking Of the
muskrat. Indeed, the animals have
many points OF resemblance. and eN-
Cept that the muskrat'S tail is mar
rover. and longer in proportion. he
is an excellent miniature portrait Of
his bigger and more valuable cousin.
the beaver.
The hirSutc face OF the muSkrat.
grim with its small. deep-set eyes and
grinnnC iucisorS, his long. brown.
shining fur and soft unler-coat of
drab. his Scaly ShankS and wehheG
feet. his whole rounded clumsy form
make n faithful reproduction in smal!
of the larger animal ON land both
have the same awkward. waddlng
gait; in the more congenial element
both swim with the same rapid. even
stroke. and dive with equal startling,
lightning-like rapidity. The musk
rat builds for n seasons use a neat
and comfortable house. but it pro
vides no entrance. such as there is
in the beavers dOmicile. for the carry.
ing in and ont Of food. The muSkrat
does not like the beaver. lay up q
store of winter food, but lives from
paw to mouth. However. like the bca-
ver'S lodge. the muSkrats house has
a burTow in the bank, as Il retreat for
use in various emergencies.
Among these are the attacks Of man
and wild animals. and the rise of
water. For the muSkrat has not the
sagac.ty in forecastinG the seasons
which many attribute To him. When
he builds the walls of his house thin
the winter is aS likely aS not 70 be un-
usually cold II he builds his dome
low and squat. the fall floods will
probably drive him 10 his burrow in
the bank; but still the secondhand
prophets do not lose faith in him.
The muSkrat is not a builder Of
dams. but rather a destroyer of them.
He will avail himself of the ponds they
create. hut lie has so little cOmprehcD-
sion of their purpose that he will un-
dermine them with his burrows. Then
some fine afternoon he will awake 10
find the pond has run away, ana left
nothing in its place but mud fiat
with Il stream meandering through:
and he will wonder at the cause of
the disaster After faring sumptu-
ously for a few days on the stranded
dying mussels. he will journey in quest
of fresh underwater pastures.
AS there are hermit beavers. so there
are he9nit muskrats. disappointed or
misanthropic old fellows, who seek
seclusiOn from their kind in some re-
mote pool or small brook Here the
hermit lives in comparative safety
from his worst enemy, man. gathering
generous subsistence in summer from
the sedges OF the watcrside and the
green things OF fields. the corn border
ing the brook, and the root-crop. But
his solitary life does not exempt him
from danger. When he makes nightly
foraging incurSions inland the prowl-
ing fox may catch his scent drifting
on the breeze. and come stealthily
up-wind upon him; or the great horned
owl may swoop down out Of the silence
of the night.
At home the muskrat is not secure
from his inveterate enemy, the mink,
whose slender, snake-like body finds
easy entrance into his burrow.
With winter comes short commons,
scant gleanings Of waterplant roots
on the bottom. and long overland
tours Of eXploratio when perhaps
meal-barrel in a hog house is dscov-
cred, or by greater good fortune, So
cret entry 10 a cellar is made. and
great store OF succulent vegetables
come at. But il is likelier that hun
ger and thirst necessitate n return 10
wider waters. The marSh-bOrdeTed
streams. with their slow, smooth cur
rents, their steady rise and fall of
water, their broad meadows, Of in
Vulnerable aquatic plants and great
beds Of fat lily-roots. are the proper
and appointed abiding places Of the
muskrats. Here IS abundant material
for hOuse-building. no current TO in
terfere with the building, or TO chafe
and wear the house away; and here
there is an inexhaustible supply OF
vegetable and animal food.
When the waning Of summer is
calendared 10y the bloom OF goldcnrod
and aster on the upland. and when
cardinal-fowers and ripened water
naples kindle rival flames on the inner
border Of the marsh. the winter dwell
ing OF the muskrat is builded unseen
in the darkness. Night by night grows
the dome Of fresh green rushes, broad
leaved flags, angular-stalk sedges;
and il IS hardly noticeable among the
green. rank standing plants until the
thatch has grown dun with curing.
Swift-winged teal alight there. and the
great dusky ducks climb 10 the house
top for outlook over the marsh. but
rarely except at night - the owner
10 be seem He il both lake-dwcI!cr
ana cave-dwelie-. and between mis-
two unlike hJbi'atons commuu.ca-
tion IS had by q hidden path ip The
taugle of weeds. a pitfIil Tor the I'M
-r-4-v. rr-r Tl~ ~ tI. marsh WITH -Ig