urs for wearing apparel and
especially muskrat fur, is steadily increasing, also the population of
all countries grows larger each year and there is bound to be a steady
demand for furs.

Another thing worthy of consideration is the fact that the flesh of the
muskrat has become a very popular dish in many of the Eastern cities and
there is a market for the carcass of the animal. The trappers of
Maryland and Delaware find ready sale for the flesh.

The muskrats found on the East Coast as well as those found in the
marshes and the shallow lakes and ponds of other parts of the country
are of the house building kind. It should be understood, however, that
the muskrat living in houses and those living in burrows in the banks of
streams are the same variety, their different, styles of habitation
being due to the different conditions of their respective locations.
Where streams are swift or where there is danger of the houses being
carried away by freshets, they dig burrows in the bank, making the
entrance below the surface of the water.

These burrows extend sometimes twenty-five or thirty feet into the bank
and the interior chamber is sometimes quite large. Along the streams of
the farming sections, much damage is done by muskrats because of these
burrows.

The houses of the marsh-dwellers are composed of grass and flags, grass
roots, mud, etc. They are of cone shaped structure and to those
unacquainted with the animals, they are simply piles of grass and weeds
in the water, for that is what they resemble. The entrances to these
houses are always deep under water. It is said that the muskrats build
their houses with thicker walls when they feel instinctively that an
unusually severe winter is approaching.

[Illustration: Muskrat House in a Marsh.]

In addition to the house the animals build small feeding places near by.
These feed beds as they are called, are constructed in the same way as
the houses, but only rise to the level of the water. These beds are the
dining rooms of the muskrats, for to them they bring all of their food
so that they may have a place to rest while they are enjoying their
meal. They also have like the raccoon, a habit of washing their food
before they will eat it.

The muskrat is a vegetarian and seldom eats any animal food. In the wild
state their natural food is grass and roots, fruit, grain and clams or
mussels. They are also fond of parsnips, carrots, artichokes, white flag
roots, wild r