The fore-extremities are short, only the wrist and fingers being visible beyond the body. They
are covered exteriorly by a short, smooth, shining coat of hair, to the roots of the nails. Interiorly
some long hairs curve over the wrist, and the palms and inner surfaces of the toes are naked.
The nails are short, conical, very slightly curved, and much compressed. The second toe 1$
the longest, the third is very nearly equal to it, the first is a little shorter, and rises higher up,'
and the thumb is by much the shortest and furthest back of all. The thumb has, however, a
conspicuous phalanx, and its claw is as long and is of the same shape with those of the fingers,
so that it ought not to be termed merely rudimentary.
Nearly as little of the hind-legs appears as of the fore ones, but the feet are very much longer.
The metatarsal bones are considerably longer than the toes, and the latter are separated their
whole length. The hind-fe:et are turned obliquely inwards. Exteriorly, they have a shining,
smooth, hairy covering, similar to that on the fore-feet, and, like it, of a grayish-brown colour ;
but the margins of the soles and toes are furnished with an even row of long, shining, pale
grayish-white hairs, curving inwards. The under surface of the feet is naked from the heel to
the claws. The inner and outer toes arise nearly opposite to each other, and are about the
same length. The remaining three arise from longer metatarsal bones, and their phalanges
are nearly equal in length to each other. The two middle ones are united by a web, for
about half the length of their first phalanges, and there is also a short web between the third
and fourth toes. The claws of all the hind-toes are rather large, conical, slightly arched, thin,
whitish, and excavated underneath. The hairs of the hind-feet do not extend much beyond
th e roots of the nails. From the shortness of its extremities*- the Musquash runs badly,
and is easily overtaken on lan d ; but it swims and dives well, though it cannot continue long
.under water.
Its tail is compressed, convex on the sides, with its acute edges in a vertical plane. It
is covered with a thin, sleek coat of short hairs, which allow a number of small, roundish
scales, well separated from each other, to appear through them. Both hairs and scales are of
a dusky-brown colour. The acute margins of the tail are covered with a close line of longer
hairs, those on the upper edge being of a dark-brown colour, and those on the under one of a
soiled-white. The tail is rather thicker in the middle than at the root, and it tapers gradually
From its middle to its extremity, which is not acute.
Dimension's.
Inches
Length of head and body . . . 14
' j> tail . . . 8
~ jj whiskers . . . . . 2
' lower incisors . . . 0
^J' nes* in c h e s. L in e s.
0 j Length of fore-feet to the end of middle claw 1 3
6 I ,, hind feet, from heel to the end of..
4 I . the middle daw . . . . 3 2
0 hind claws . . ’ * . 0 8'
9 1 ,, from end of the nose to the eye , 1 - 3-
There is a considerable variation in the size of individuals, as is common in all the species
of the Linnean genus mus.
The Musquashes have a strong musky smell, particularly the male ones in the
spring time; yet their flesh is eaten by the Indians, and when it is fat they prize
it for a time, but are said to tire of it soon—it somewhat resembles flabby pox-k.
In latitude 55°, the Musquash has three litters in the course of the summer, and
from three to seven young at a litter. They begin to breed before they attain
their full growth. The districts in which they are most abundant are subject to
inundations, which, covering all the low grounds, leave no resting places for these
animals, and destroy great numbers; in severe winters, also, they are sometimes
almost extirpated from certain parts of the country by the freezing up of the
swamps, which they inhabit. In such cases, being deprived of their usual food,
they are driven by famine to destroy each other. They are likewise subject at
uncertain intervals to a great mortality from some unknown cause. Their great
fecundity, however, enables them to recover these losses in a very few years,
although the deaths are at times so numerous, that a fur-post, where the Musquash
is the principal l’eturn, is not unfrequently abandoned until they have recruited.
The southern limit of the range of the Musquash may be stated to be somewhere
about latitude 30°. Bartram informs us, that they exist in the northern parts
of Georgia and Floxida; and we have ascertained that they extend northwards
nearly to the mouth of the Mackenzie, in latitude 69°. Their favourite abodes
are small grassy lakes or swamps, or the grassy borders of slow-flowing streams
where there is a muddy bottom. They feed chiefly on vegetable matters; and
in northern districts principally on the roots and tender shoots of the bulrush and
reed-mace, and on the leaves of various carices and aquatic grasses. The sweet-
flag (acorus calamus), of whose roots, according to Pennant, they are very fond,
does not grow to the northward of Lake Winipeg. In the summer, they frequent
rivers, for the purpose it is said of feeding upon the fresh-water mussels (Unio)„
We often saw small collections of mussel-shells on the banks of the larger rivers,
which we were told had been left by them.
In the autumn, before the shallow lakes and swamps freeze over, the Musquash
builds its house of mud, giving it a conical form, and a sufficient base to raise
the chamber above the level of the water. The chosen spot is generally amongst
long grass, which is incorporated with the walls of the house, from the mud
being deposited amongst it, but the animal does not appear to make any kind of
composition or mortar by tempering the mud and grass together. There is,
however, a dry bed of grass deposited in the chamber. The entrance is under
water. When ice forms over the surface of the swamp, the Musquash makes
breathing holes through it, and protects them from the frost by a covering of
mud. In severe winters, however, these holes freeze up, in spite of their cover