Muskrats Are Plentiful
We are aware that in many sections of our country the fish are few and the game equally scarce. Yet there is nearly always some kinds of fish that may be found and taken lawfully, as also some kinds of game.
Then, too, there are some kinds of toothsome fish and game that the hunter or fisherman is not likely to consider. In the game line take the humble musquash. This is the only wild animal that is holding its own against man, and is actually increasing in numbers in the settled sections of this country. It is usually called a muskrat, but it is not a rat [[165]]and has no musk. It tastes like squirrel and is equally palatable. It is nocturnal in its habits, and about the only way to take it is to trap it. This last is not especially difficult, but the average wild motor camper probably does not know how. To catch the musquash it is necessary to use a small steel trap which should be placed in the water at the entrance to the burrow of the animal which can be located at the edge or bank of stream, pond, or lake by watching for the little tracks which the animal makes in the mud.
Another wild creature is a shell fish which the ordinary motor camper would never think of. We refer to the crawfish which is found in almost all the muddy streams of the Mississippi Valley, and can be netted, or caught on a hook. This little animal when boiled gets red like a boiled lobster, and tastes better than lobster. Of course, almost everywhere along the seashore one may find clams, mussels and the like for food. Shell fish may also be found in some fresh-water streams.
The fish or game after being scaled or skinned and dressed may be fried in the skillet, or even boiled in the sort of wooden pot already described. However, the most satisfactory way to prepare it if you are motor camping wild is to roast it on a wooden spit. The spit may be a wooden rod or stick from which the bark has been peeled. This may be thrust through the fish or game, and the roasting done in front of or over the camp fire. Fish should be secured to the spit by being tied on [[166]]with string or strips of bark. Otherwise as it cooks it is likely to fall off into the fire, or to the ground.