CHAPTER NINE.
THE MUSQUASH.
Our next day's march was unenlivened by any particular incident. We hadleft behind us the heavy timber, and again travelled through the "oakopenings." Not an animal was started during the whole day, and the onlyone seen was a muskrat that took to the water of a small creek andescaped. This occurred at the spot where we had halted for ournight-camp, and after the tents were pitched, several of the party went"rat-hunting." The burrow of a family of these curious little animalswas discovered in the bank, and an attempt was made to dig them out, butwithout success. The family proved to be "not at home."
The incident, however, brought the muskrat on the _tapis_.
The "muskrat" of the States is the musquash of the fur-traders (_Fibersibethicus_). He is called muskrat, from his resemblance to the commonrat, combined with the musky odour which he emits from glands situatednear the anus. Musquash is said to be an Indian appellative--a strangecoincidence, as the word, "musk" is of Arabic origin, and "musquash"would seem a compound of the French _musque_, as the early Canadianfur-traders were French, or of French descent, and fixed thenomenclature of most of the fur-bearing animals of that region.Naturalists have used the name of "Musk Beaver" on account of the manypoints of resemblance which this animal bears to the true beaver(_Castor fiber_). Indeed, they seem to be of the same genus, and soLinnaeus classed them; but later systematists have separated them, forthe purpose, I should fancy, not of simplifying science, but of creatingthe impression that they themselves were very profound observers.
The teeth--those great friends of the closet naturalist, which help himto whole pages of speculation--have enabled him to separate the beaverfrom the musquash, although the whole history and habits of thesecreatures prove them to be congeners, as much as a mastiff is thecongener of a greyhound--indeed, far more. So like are they in ageneral sense, that the Indians call them "cousins."
In form the muskrat differs but little from the beaver. It is a thick,rounded, and flat-looking animal, with blunt nose, short ears almostburied in the fur, stiff whiskers like a cat, short legs and neck, smalldark eyes, and sharply-clawed feet. The hinder ones are longest, andare half-webbed. Those of the beaver are full-webbed.
There is a curious fact in connection with the tails of these twoanimals. Both are almost naked of hair, and covered with "scales," andboth are flat. The tail of the beaver, and the uses it makes of thisappendage, are things known to every one. Every one has read of itstrowel-shape and use, its great breadth, thickness, and weight, and itsresemblance to a cricket-bat. The tail of the muskrat is also naked,covered with scales, and compressed or flattened; but instead of beinghorizontally so, as with the beaver, it is the reverse; and the thinedges are in a vertical plane. The tail of the former, moreover, is notof the trowel-shape, but tapers like that of the common rat. Indeed,its resemblance to the house-rat is so great as to render it a somewhatdisagreeable object to look upon.
Tail and all, the muskrat is about twenty inches in length; and its bodyis about half as big as that of a beaver. It possesses a strange powerof contracting its body, so as to make it appear about half its naturalsize, and to enable it to pass through a chink that animals of muchsmaller dimensions could not enter.
Its colour is reddish-brown above, and light-ash underneath. There areeccentricities, however, in this respect. Specimens have been foundquite black, as also mixed and pure white. The fur is a soft, thickdown, resembling that of the beaver, but not quite so fine. There arelong rigid hairs, red-coloured, that overtop the fur; and these are alsosparely scattered over the tail.
The habits of the muskrat are singular--perhaps not less so than thoseof his "cousin" the beaver, when you strip the history of the latter ofits many exaggerations. Indeed the former animal, in the domesticatedstate, exhibits much greater intelligence than the latter.
Like the beaver, it is a water animal, and is only found where waterexists; never among the dry hills. Its "range" extends over the wholecontinent of North America, wherever "grass grows and water runs." Itis most probable it is an inhabitant of the Southern Continent, but thenatural history of that country is still but half told.
Unlike the beaver, the race of the muskrat is not likely soon to becomeextinct. The beaver is now found in America, only in the remotest partsof the uninhabited wilderness. Although formerly an inhabitant of theAtlantic States, his presence there is now unknown; or, if occasionallymet with, it is no longer in the beaver dam, with its cluster of socialdomes, but only as a solitary creature, a "terrier beaver,"ill-featured, shaggy in coat, and stunted in growth.
The muskrat, on the contrary, still frequents the settlements. There ishardly a creek, pond, or watercourse, without one or more familieshaving an abode upon its banks. Part of the year the muskrat is asocial animal; at other seasons it is solitary. The male differs butlittle from the female, though he is somewhat larger, and better furred.
In early spring commences the season of his loves. His musky odour isthen strongest, and quite perceptible in the neighbourhood of his haunt.He takes a wife, to whom he is for ever after faithful; and it isbelieved the connection continues to exist during life. After the"honeymoon" a burrow is made in the bank of a stream or pond; usually insome solitary and secure spot by the roots of a tree, and always in sucha situation that the rising of the water cannot reach the nest which isconstructed within. The entrance to this burrow is frequently underwater, so that it is difficult to discover it. The nest within is a bedof moss or soft grasses. In this the female brings forth five or six"cubs," which she nourishes with great care, training them to her ownhabits. The male takes no part in their education; but during thisperiod absents himself, and wanders about alone. In autumn the cubs arenearly full-grown, and able to "take care of themselves." The "oldfather" now joins the family party, and all together proceed to theerection of winter quarters. They forsake the "home of their nativity,"and build a very different sort of a habitation. The favourite site fortheir new house, is a swamp not likely to freeze to the bottom, and ifwith a stream running through it, all the better. By the side of thisstream, or often on a little islet in the midst, they construct adome-shaped pile, hollow within, and very much like the house of thebeaver. The materials used are grass and mud, the latter being obtainedat the bottom of the swamp or stream. The entrance to this house issubterranean, and consists of one or more galleries debouching under thewater. In situations where there is danger of inundation, the floor ofthe interior is raised higher, and frequently terraces are made to admitof a dry seat, in case the ground-floor should get flooded. Of coursethere is free egress and ingress at all times, to permit the animal togo after its food, which consists of plants that grow in the water closeat hand.
The house being completed, and the cold weather having set in, the wholefamily, parents and all, enter it, and remain there during the winter,going out only at intervals for necessary purposes. In spring theydesert this habitation and never return to it.
Of course they are warm enough during winter while thus housed, even inthe very coldest weather. The heat of their own bodies would make themso, lying as they do, huddled together, and sometimes on top of oneanother, but the mud walls of their habitations are a foot or more inthickness, and neither frost nor rain can penetrate within.
Now, a curious fact has been observed in connection with the houses ofthese creatures. It shows how nature has adapted them to thecircumstances in which they may be placed. By philosophers it is termed"instinct"; but in our opinion it is the same sort of instinct whichenables Mr Hobbs to pick a "Chubb" lock. It is this:--
In southern climates--in Louisiana, for instance--the swamps and riversdo not freeze over in winter. There the muskrat does not construct suchhouses as that described, but is contented all the year with his burrowin the banks. He can go forth freely and seek his food at all seasons.
In the north it is different. There for months the rivers are frozenover with thick ice. Th
e muskrat could only come out under the ice, orabove it. If the latter, the entrance of his burrow would betray him,and men with their traps, and dogs, or other enemies, would easily getat him. Even if he had also a water entrance, by which he might escapeupon the invasion of his burrow, he would drown for want of air.Although an amphibious animal, like the beaver and otter, he cannot livealtogether under water, and must rise at intervals to take breath. Therunning stream in winter does not perhaps furnish him with his favouritefood--the roots and stems of water-plants. These the swamp affords tohis satisfaction; besides, it gives him security from the attacks of menand preying animals, as the wolverine and fisher. Moreover, his housein the swamp cannot be easily approached by the hunter--man--except whenthe ice becomes very thick and strong. Then, indeed, is the season ofperil for the muskrat, but even then he has loopholes of escape. Howcunningly this creature adapts itself to its geographical situation! Inthe extreme north--in the hyperborean regions of the Hudson's BayCompany--lakes, rivers, and even springs freeze up in winter. Theshallow marshes become solid ice, congealed to their very bottoms. Howis the muskrat to get under water there? Thus, then, he manages thematter:--
Upon deep lakes, as soon as the ice becomes strong enough to bear hisweight, he makes a hole in it, and over this he constructs hisdome-shaped habitation, bringing the materials up through the hole, fromthe bottom of the lake. The house thus formed sits prominently upon theice. Its entrance is in the floor--the hole which has already beenmade--and thus is kept open during the whole season of frost, by thecare and watchfulness of the inmates, and by their passing constantlyout and in to seek their food--the water-plants of the lake.
This peculiar construction of the muskrat's dwelling, with itswater-passage, would afford all the means of escape from its ordinaryenemies--the beasts of prey--and, perhaps, against these alone naturehas instructed it to provide. But with all its cunning it is, ofcourse, outwitted by the superior ingenuity of its enemy--man.
The food of the muskrat is varied. It loves the roots of severalspecies of _nymphae_, but its favourite is _calamus_ root (_calamus_ or_acorus aromaticus_). It is known to eat shell-fish, and heaps of theshells of fresh-water muscles (_unios_) are often found near itsretreat. Some assert that it eats fish, but the same assertion is madewith regard to the beaver. This point is by no means clearly made out;and the closet naturalists deny it, founding their opposing theory, asusual, upon the teeth. For my part, I have but little faith in the"teeth," since I have known horses, hogs, and cattle greedily devourboth fish, flesh, and fowl.
The muskrat is easily tamed, and becomes familiar and docile. It isvery intelligent, and will fondly caress the hand of its master.Indians and Canadian settlers often have them in their houses as pets;but there is so much of the rat in their appearance, and they emit sucha disagreeable odour in the spring, as to prevent them from becominggeneral favourites. They are difficult to cage up, and will eat theirway out of a deal box in a single night. Their flesh, although somewhatmusky, is eaten by the Indians and white hunters, but these gentry eatalmost everything that "lives, breathes, and moves." Many Canadians,however, are fond of the flesh.
It is not for its flesh that the muskrat is so eagerly hunted. Its furis the important consideration. This is almost equal to the fur of thebeaver in the manufacture of hats, and sells for a price that pays theIndians and white trappers for the hardships they undergo in obtainingit. It is, moreover, used in the making of boas and muffs, as itsomewhat resembles the fur of the pine marten or American sable(_Mustela martes_), and on account of its cheapness is sometimes passedoff for the latter. It is one of the regular articles of the Hudson'sBay Company's commerce, and thousands of muskrat skins are annuallyobtained. Indeed, were it not that the animal is prolific and difficultto capture, its species would soon suffer extermination.
The mode of taking it differs from that practised in trapping thebeaver. It is often caught in traps set for the latter, but such a"catch" is regarded in the light of a misfortune, as until it is takenout the trap is rendered useless for its real object. As an amusementit is sometimes hunted by dogs, as the otter is, and dug out of itsburrow; but the labour of laying open its deep cave is ill repaid by thesport. The amateur sportsman frequently gets a shot at the muskratwhile passing along the bank near its haunts, and almost as frequentlymisses his aim. The creature is too quick for him, and dives almostwithout making a bubble. Of course once in the pool it is seen no more.
Many tribes of Indians hunt the muskrat both for its flesh and skin.They have peculiar modes of capturing it, of one of which thehunter-naturalist gave an account. A winter which he had spent at afort in the neighbourhood of a settlement of Ojibways gave him anopportunity of witnessing this sport in perfection.