The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1909-05-28

Armies of men, young and old, are
engaged in new industry In the
swamp lands along the shores of
Lake Erie and the rivers flowing in
to it, which, this spring yielded more
returns than it ever did, and promises
to develop within the next few years
into one of the most profitable forms
of trapping in the world.
Trapping the muskrat, extracting
the musk, preparing the meat for
Market and cleaning and selling
the hides, is the work of the new in
dustry, which is each year being car
ried on with more vigor and success.
Muskrat trapping is remunerative
work because the little water rodents
are so thick and easy to catch. It
requires but a small hunters outfit and
a smaller amount of skill, although
the men who have been in the bust
ness several years naturally make the
biggest catches, chiefly because they
know where the rats are in abund-
ance and how to go after them. But
even at the start the novice does well
and it takes him only few days to
learn the ms and outs Of the game.
The entire marsh country along the
southern and western shores of the
lake, and especially along Maumee
and Sandusky bays and the Detroit
river, has it's thousands of muskrat
homes, built on the beds of the bays
and rivers. These houses are about
two feet in height and are in the
form of mounds, only two rats living
in each mound These homes are
never built in deep water. The rats
live partly on land, in order to Sc
cure food, and consequently they
must have their homes near the shore.
The method of hunting the musk
rat is simple. A row boat and spear
are the essentials for water work,
while on land traps of all varieties
are used The trapper selects a
marshy place in the bay, creek or
river and starts out in his boat. Usu-
ally a man accompanies him, the pro-
fessional trappers preferring to work
| in pairs. The second man has a boat
| for himself and when the homes of
the rodents are reached, he stations
| himself between the mounds and the
shore, just near enough to the mounds
to be able to spear the rats as they
leave This done, the other hunter
sends his spear into the top Of the
mud hole.
If the rats are in their home, one
or both will be sure to be caught on
| the end of the spear. If only one is
caught the other will run out of the
house and make for the shore. Then
there is work for the trapper who is
between the mound and the shore.
and he usually has his prey before it
gets ten feet from the mound. Should
| the rat escape the deadly weapon, in
| nearly every case it is caught in one
of the traps on shore, which the trap
pers set before they go on their
| quest.
The hunters, if they happen to
| strike a "city" of mounds, continue
their work, sometimes catching 40 or
so rats before going ashore.
The next work for the men engaged
| in this business is to extract the
musk, which is used in making per-
| fume. While muskrat's hide be-
fore being treated with chemicals
gives forth very unpleasant odor
the musk found near the bladder is
especially remarkable for its powerful
and enduring fragrance. When fresh
it is of the consistency of honey. 1t
is bottled or packed in small wooden
boxes and shipped to perfume manu-.
facturers.
The muskrat meat is relished by
the Indians who inhabited this part
of the country, and of late years it
has become a favorite with white
people. The meat is declared to be
the equal and even better than that
of wild rabbit and man will go hunt
ing for muskrats merely to secure a
pair to eat
The trapper's next concern is the
hide, which, after all, is the best pay
ing part of the game. The hide is
odorous and must be "salted" and
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