The Musk-rat inhabits the same waters as the beaver of North America. It makes a house, generally of reeds piled in a mound, in the lakes and swamps. The body is only 12 inches long, but the fur is thick and close, and much used for lining coats and cloaks. The vast chains of rivers and lakes in Canada make that country the favourite home of the musk-rat. This creature lives upon roots of aquatic plants, freshwater-mussels, and stems of juicy herbs. Besides making the domed houses of grass, reeds, and mud, it also burrows in the banks of streams. There it makes rather an elaborate home, with numerous passages leading to the water. The odour of musk is very strong even in the skin. The tail is narrow and almost naked. This species is the largest of the vole group.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
SHORT-TAILED HUTIA.
The hutias are another group of octodonts, found in the West India Islands.
The Typical Rats and Mice.
These animals were originally an Old World group. Though the brown rat is now common in America, it is believed to have come originally from China.
A very large number of animals are now almost dependent on man and his belongings. Such creatures are said to be "commensalistic," or eaters at the same table. They are often very unwelcome guests, whether they are flies, sparrows, or cockroaches; but probably the least welcome of all are the rats and mice. The Brown Rat is the best known of any. It has come into worse repute than usual of late, because it is now certain that it harbours the plague-bacillus, and communicates the disease to man. Its habits and appearance need no description. The Black Rat is the older and smaller species indigenous in Europe, which the brown rat has almost extirpated from England. A few old houses still hold the black rat, and there are always a few wild ones at the Zoological Gardens which feed in the animals' houses. The Black-and-white Rat (not the albino white rat) kept tame in this country is probably a domesticated form of the Alexandrine Rat of Egypt.
The House-mouse is now found in all parts of the world to which Europeans have access. In England its main home is in the corn-ricks. Were the farmers to thresh the grain, as is done in the United States, as soon as it is cut, mice would be far less common. Besides these parasitic mice, there are a host of field- and forest-mice in this and other countries. One of the best-known English species is the Harvest-mouse, which makes a globular nest of grass in the wheat-fields, attached to stems of corn or weeds. In this the young are born. In winter the mouse lives in holes in banks, and lays up a store of kernels and grain. The Wood-mouse is larger than the former, or than the House-mouse. It is yellowish brown in colour, lays up a great store of winter food, and is itself the favourite prey of the weasel.
