. Life-histories of northern animals [microform] : an account of the mammals of Manitoba. Mammals; Mammals; Mammifères; Mammifères. Muskrat 549. The lodges are resting places and sleeping places, as well as the nurseries for the young. They are truly the homes of these animals. The inborn home-feeling that the Muskrat has for its raftâthat is, its house beginningâis shown in this incident. During my early days in the Souris Plains (May, 1882) I once fired at a Muskrat sitting on a large raft. It dived off into the water, but returned to clamber onto the floating reeds. I walked gently near,
. Life-histories of northern animals [microform] : an account of the mammals of Manitoba. Mammals; Mammals; Mammifères; Mammifères. Muskrat 549. The lodges are resting places and sleeping places, as well as the nurseries for the young. They are truly the homes of these animals. The inborn home-feeling that the Muskrat has for its raftâthat is, its house beginningâis shown in this incident. During my early days in the Souris Plains (May, 1882) I once fired at a Muskrat sitting on a large raft. It dived off into the water, but returned to clamber onto the floating reeds. I walked gently near, then waded out to find it was the same Muskratâstone dead. It had come back to its raft to die. A higher development of these outlying posts is thus described by Dr. John Rae:' "The house-building habits of the Muskrat, in nearly every BArmo. part of British North America, are well known, but there is one plan to which it sometimes resorts under certain circumstances which appears to show great intelligence in enabling it to get its food more readily. The Muskrat, when about to build its house, selects a pond or swamp of good, pure water, on the bottom of which grow the plants which constitute its winter supply of food. If the pond or swamp is of considerable extent, and the house a large one containing many Rats, they, when the water begins to freeze in early winter, keep several holes open in the ice in different directions, and av a distance from the house, and build a little hut of mud and weeds (just large enough to hold one Rat comfortably) over each hole, whichâespecially when covered with snowâprevents it freezing up. These huts enable the Rats to fxtend their feeding-ground to all parts of the pond, which could not be reached at all, or with difficulty, from the house if they had to swim home every time with a mouthful of food to eat it. With these little shelters they are saved a great amount of labour and are enabled to reach all the food in the pond. I
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishe, booksubjectmammals
