Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1919 — Muskrat Lore. [ARTICLE]

Muskrat Lore.

The feed of the muskrat consists of grasses, apples, bark of trees, water plants, carrots, turnips, cabbage and corn, and crayfish. Although millions of these browncolored rats are trapped each year for their fur, the number does not seem to decrease. When the s£ur is made into clothing it is called Russian mink or Baltic seal. One of the ways of trapping the muskrat is to set a trap three or four inches below the surface of water in a place where he has been In the habit of leaving the water. In this way he will step into the trap as he undertakes to leave the water. Still another way is to place the trap just below the entrance into hi 9 home. Some trappers use apples or turnips as bait The home quarters is usually quite a large cavity and contains much grass and sticks. During the first two or. three weeks of the life of the young the mother muskrat does not leave the home but depends upon the male to furnish the feed supply.