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diff --git a/34524.txt b/34524.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04801a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/34524.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1163 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Muskrat City, by Henry Abbott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Muskrat City + +Author: Henry Abbott + +Release Date: December 1, 2010 [EBook #34524] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSKRAT CITY *** + + + + +Produced by Linda M. Everhart, Blairstown, Missouri + + + + +MUSKRAT CITY + +By +HENRY ABBOTT + +NEW YORK +1922 + +Copyright 1922 +by +HENRY ABBOTT + + + +MUSKRAT CITY + +The Irish cook one day proposed to the ship's captain the following +conundrum: "Is anny thin' lost whin yeez know where 'tis?" The +Captain assured him that in such case the thing was not lost. And +Dennis responded: "Well, thin, shure, the ta-kettle is safe, for 'tis +in the bottom av the ocean." + +Bige and I thought we were lost. We did not know the way to our +destination. We did not know the way back home. But realizing that we +were in the heart of the trackless forest, we knew we were perfectly +safe. + +We had eaten an early breakfast that morning at the "Dan'l Boone +Camp." We had made sandwiches for lunch, wrapped them in paper, tied +the packages on the sides of our fish baskets, and had started for +Plum Pond, where we expected to do some fishing. + +We had been walking five hours and had not yet reached Plum Pond. +Indeed, we felt quite sure we had passed it, either on the right or +on the left. Also, it was possible that we had been, for the last +hour, going northwest instead of southwest. It was raining and we had +not consulted the compass very often. It had been raining for the +past three hours, and now the water was falling in a flood, and we +were soaked to the skin. Our shoes were filled with water and as we +plodded on it sloshed, sloshed, with every step. We were bewildered, +but it would do no good to stop, or turn back, so we continued to +push on. + +Presently, as we passed over a ridge and climbed down the steep +hillside, we saw a cleared place in the bottom of the valley. Bige +exclaimed, "Gosh!! Well I'll be doggoned! If that ain't Muskrat +City." The map makers had not discovered the place, and Bige had +never heard of it, yet the instant he saw it he knew its name was +Muskrat City, and it shall so remain unless an act of legislature +changes it. + +At the bottom of a deep valley, with steep hills on either side, in +the center of a beaver meadow was a collection of a score or more of +conical shaped mud huts, about two and a half feet high and three +feet in diameter at the base. In each of these huts there lived a +male muskrat, his wife and family of seven to nine children. There +also were numerous bachelor muskrats, who lived by themselves in +holes in the bank. + +Lest some of our readers may not be acquainted with a "beaver +meadow," let us explain that at some period of time, long ago, +possibly two hundred or maybe five hundred years ago, beavers lived +here and built a dam across the brook as all beavers do. The dam +backed the waters of the brook up and flooded the floor of the +valley, thus drowning all the trees which were not cut and peeled by +the beavers. These trees, of course, fell and decayed, so that not +even stumps or roots were left. In the course of time the beavers +either were exterminated by trappers or they had exhausted their food +supply in that valley and then emigrated to some other stream. In the +absence of the builders, who must constantly make repairs, the dam +had broken and the brush it contained had decayed. Only the stones +and dirt used in its construction remained to mark the spot where it +had once held back a beaver pond covering several acres. This space +had remained swampy for some years and trees did not grow upon it. It +was now covered with a rank growth of grass. + +Many such places are found in the forest and they are always known as +beaver meadows. They unquestionably mark spots where colonies of +beavers once lived, though it might have been many years before. + +The far-sighted, fore-handed pioneers who settled in the state of +Iowa, with prophetic wisdom and civic pride of hope, loaded the +labels of their communities with the word "City." After the lapse of +eighty years, the last census showed twenty-three "Cities" in that +state having less than one thousand inhabitants each. Of these, six +have less than three hundred each. "Promise City" in eighty years has +acquired two hundred and seventy-eight inhabitants, while "Walnut +City" beats the record with thirty. + +We then did not know, and we do not now know, how many inhabitants +there were in Muskrat City, but we feel confident they outnumbered +the citizens of some of the Iowa cities. + +By the time we had reached the floor of the valley, rain ceased to +fall and in a few minutes the sun was shining. We were not only wet +but we now realized that we were hungry. It was long past our usual +lunch hour. Fish baskets were unslung from our backs and we found our +sandwiches had been reduced by the rain to a mushy mess mixed with +paper pulp. Indeed, a substantial part of our rations had been +converted into liquid form and distributed along our route through +the woods. + +Without wasting time in vain cussing or discussing, Bige at once set +to work building a fire on the gravelly beach of the brook. This was +one of those occasions when a waterproof match box proved useful. But +one should also know how to build a fire in the woods without +matches. Any Boy Scout can tell you how to do it. + +Nature has provided curly birch bark for kindling, for just such +emergencies as this, and it is usually dry on the leeward side of the +tree. In a few minutes a roaring, crackling fire was going, and our +clothing--as much of it as native modesty would permit--was hanging +on saplings which we had cut and stuck in the ground about the fire. + +While this work was under way I strung up my rod, went up the brook +into the edge of the woods, and in a deep hole caught some trout. I +got six fine ones in about twice as many casts. + +Bige dressed the fish while I got some striped maple leaves. They are +about as large as cabbage leaves but thinner. Each fish was wrapped +in one of these leaves which was tied on with a piece of string. The +packages were then dipped in the brook to wet the leaves and were +buried in hot ashes and covered with live coals. In about fifteen +minutes we pulled our fish out of the fire. The wrappers were charred +and they looked like burned sticks. Breaking them open we found the +skin of the fish stuck to the charred leaves and it came free from +the flesh, which was pink and steaming. + +For preserving the delicious flavor of freshly caught trout, this is +the best method of cooking I know of. A thin inner layer of green +birch bark, or a piece of paper, if one has it, will do for a +wrapper. + +Other methods of cooking, in the absence of the usual culinary +utensils, are numerous. One we have practiced as follows: The +sharpened end of a slender green sapling is stuck through a fish's +mouth and lengthwise into the solid part of its body. The other end +of the stick, which should be three feet long, is pushed into the +ground and the stick bent so as to bring the fish directly over a bed +of live coals--not over the blaze. By this method several fish can be +broiled at the same time. On other occasions we have built a bigger +fire, with larger sticks of wood, found some flat stones twelve to +fifteen inches across which we put in the fire and when they were +quite hot, dragged them out, and laid our fish on the stones to cook. +This also is an excellent way to cook bacon and we sometimes employ +it even when a frying pan is handy. Of course, we washed the stones +in the brook before they were put into the fire. But then, one can be +quite sure that the fire will kill any stray microbe that the stone +might harbor. + +Freshly peeled birch bark makes excellent plates on which to serve +primitive meals such as described. + +Luncheon finished, and our clothes dry, we discussed our next move. +Since no one was left at Dan'l's who might worry over our absence, we +decided to remain at Muskrat City over night, then make an early +morning start toward the beginning of a trail to civilization. + +In carrying out this program the first step was to prepare a shelter +and a bed. The lack of an axe was a handicap, but our large pocket +knives were made to serve. About ten feet from our fireplace lay the +moss-covered body of a pine tree that had fallen out across the +meadow, possibly fifty or seventy-five years ago. We cut two saplings +and drove them into the ground seven feet from the log and five feet +apart, leaving a fork on each of these posts five feet above the +ground. A pole was laid across in the two forks, and other poles were +laid sloping from this to the log. Then we peeled yellow birch bark +to cover the roof and anchored the bark with heavy sticks above it. +Brush piled against the two sides formed sufficient protection from +the wind and the front was open toward the fire. Balsam boughs were +gathered for the bed and some firewood collected; then we went down +stream to fish and explore. + +During the past twenty-five years Bige and I have built many similar +one-night shelters, in widely separated parts of the forest. We have +slept under them with comfort when it rained. We have, on occasion, +found white frost on the ground in the morning. The forest furnishes, +free at hand, the materials required, and the labor involved is only +an element of the pleasure of forest exploration. + +Half a mile down the brook we found it emptied into a larger stream, +where we soon filled a basket with trout. Also we picked a hatful of +raspberries. We returned to the city in time for an early supper and +as we had no dishes to wash we had ample time to discuss our probable +location and the most promising course to pursue in the morning. + +The chief charm of exploration lies in the uncertainty of always +finding what one starts out to find, and in the equal certainty that +one may find something else, possibly even more interesting or more +valuable than what was on the program. + +Columbus failed to discover a western route to India, but he found +something else, and got himself put into history and his bust in the +hall of fame. + +Bige and I failed to reach Plum Pond, but we found a better thing. +The fishing in our two brooks was all that could be desired. There +were evidences that the hunting would be good in this "neck of the +woods," when the hunting season should open, and it was unlikely that +any other hunters would penetrate to this remote section. Bige saw +great possibilities in the fur crop when the hunting should be over, +and trapping begin. + +So, though we were hopelessly lost (?) in "an impenetrable forest," +we slept comfortably, and peacefully, crawling out of our nest only +occasionally when the fire required another stick of wood. Only on +such occasions did we see or hear the permanent residents of Muskrat +City. As the fire was kicked together and a fresh stick thrown upon +it, causing a shower of sparks to shoot upward, then would be heard a +rapid succession of splashes as fifteen or twenty rats would plunge +into the brook and scurry to their hiding places. Otherwise, they +silently went about their business. + +About seven o'clock on the following morning, we climbed the ridge +over which we had come into Muskrat City, and taking careful note of +landmarks, we proceeded in a general eastward direction. One can +usually see but a short distance in an unlumbered forest. After two +hours of slow and difficult travel we climbed a high and steep hill. +When we neared the top we noted a rocky ledge on the summit. +Scrambling to the top of this, we had an unobstructed and extended +view over valleys and foothills, and saw mountain peaks in every +direction. + + [Illustration: Owl's Head Mountain in the distance] + +A long distance off to the northeast loomed up the highest peak of +all, which from its height and its two rounded, bare knobs, we knew +to be Owl's Head Mountain. We also knew that it was but two miles +from the top of Owl's Head to the Dan'l Boone Camp. We trained the +compass on that peak and took a fresh start toward home. For many +years Bige and I had hunted partridge and deer on every side of this +mountain and over its foothills. On many occasions, also, we had been +on its bald summit. So now, on returning to its shadow, we should be +on familiar ground. + +Jim Flynn now lives on Owl's Head Mountain, from the time the snow +has melted in the woods in late spring until the snow begins to fall +again in the autumn. Jim is employed by the State Conservation +Commission to watch out for fires in the forests. When Jim discovers +the beginning of a fire anywhere in the range of his outlook, the +fact and location is reported by telephone to the chief at fire +headquarters, when men with tools are dispatched from the nearest +settlement to put out the fire before it gets beyond control. This +service was established in 1909 with lookout stations on the tops of +all the high peaks in the Adirondack range. Since that date there +have been no disastrous forest fires in that region. + + [Illustration: Jim Flynn] + +Jim lives in a log cabin which he built just below the rocky ledge +which covers the summit. On the high point a steel tower thirty-five +feet high carries his lookout station above the tree tops. This is a +rather lonely spot in which to live half the year. On rainy days, +when there is little danger of a fire making headway, Jim is +permitted to visit his family at the settlement on the lake, and to +bring back fresh supplies. + + [Illustration: Jim Flynn's Cabin] + +Jim is glad to have visitors call upon him at his mountain-top +resort, and to encourage such he has made an excellent trail to the +nearest point on Long Lake, about three miles, and has marked it with +signs to point the way up the mountain. Jim will lend you his +field-glass, name the points of interest in view, make coffee for +you, if you bring the makings, and discuss with you the latest +political questions, philosophy or religion. + + [Illustration: Jim in his Look-out Tower] + +In a book entitled, "The Adirondack, or Life in the Woods," published +in 1849, J. T. Headley, the author, writes about his visit to the top +of Owl's Head Mountain, with his guide, Mitchell Sabattis, an Indian, +and the first settler on Long Lake. Headley says that in returning +they "lost their way and were fourteen hours without food." He +describes the view from the top of Owl's Head as follows: + +"It looks off on a prospect that would make your heart stand still in +your bosom. Look away toward that distant horizon! In its broad sweep +round the heavens, it takes in nearly four hundred miles, while +between slumbers an ocean but it is an ocean of tree tops. Conceive, +if you can, this vast expanse stretching on and spreading away, till +the bright green becomes shaded into a deep black, with not a sound +to break the solitude, and not a hand's breadth of land in view +throughout the whole. It is a vast forest-ocean, with mountain ridges +for billows, rolling smoothly and gently on like the subsiding swell +of a storm. I stand on the edge of a precipice which throws its naked +wall far down to the tops of the fir trees below, and look off on +this surpassing wild and strange spectacle. The life that villages, +and towns, and cultivated fields give to a landscape is not here, +neither is there the barrenness and savageness of the view from +Tahawus. It is all vegetation--luxuriant, gigantic vegetation; but +man has had no hand in it. It stands as the Almighty made it, +majestic and silent, save when the wind or the storm breathes on it, +waking up its myriad low-toned voices, which sing: + + 'The wild profound eternal bass + In nature's anthem.' + +Oh, how still and solemn it slumbers below me; while far away yonder, +to the left, shoots up into the heavens the massive peaks of the +Adirondack chain, mellowed here, by the distance, into beauty. Yet +there is one relief to this vast forest solitude--like gems sleeping +in a moss bed, lakes are everywhere glittering in the bright +sunshine. How calm and trustingly they repose on the bosom of the +wilderness! Thirty-six, a hunter tells me, can be counted from this +summit, though I do not see over twenty. * * * Some of these are from +four to six miles in width, and yet they look like mere pools at this +distance, and in the midst of such a mass of green. + +I have gazed on many mountain prospects in this and the old world, +but this view has awakened an entirely new class of emotions." + + [Illustration: Jim entertaining a guest on the mountain] + +As Bige and I descended the steep slope from our lookout, we were +quickly buried among the evergreens, with the only extended view +toward the blue sky and floating clouds above the tall tree tops. +Having in mind the experience of the previous day, the compass was +frequently consulted, but travel was difficult and progress slow. + +An hour later we came upon a small log cabin, having a roof of spruce +bark, no floor, but a puncheon door and one window. In one corner was +a crude fireplace made of stones, having two lengths of stove pipe +which passed through the window for a chimney. Opposite the fireplace +was a balsam bed and in another corner was a pile of spruce gum. +There were also a frying pan, tin plate, knife and fork, and on a +bark shelf some food stuff. We left the shack and on a path a short +distance from it, we met its owner who was returning. He was of +uncertain age, but with white hair and white scraggy beard. He +carried a bag partly filled with gum and in one hand a long pole +having a small shovel-shaped piece of steel fastened to one end. This +implement he used to loosen a ball of gum that was too high on the +tree trunk to be otherwise reached. + +The man proved to be Sam Lapham. Bige knew him and I had often heard +about him. Sam spent most of the summer collecting spruce gum, which +he was able to sell for a good price. This unfrequented part of the +forest was one of his camping places during the "gumming season." The +sticky juice of the spruce tree oozes out through cracks in the wood, +and collects on the bark where it hangs in lumps from the size of a +child's thumb up to the dimensions of a hen's egg. In the course of +years of exposure to the air this pitchy material crystallizes, +"ripens," and becomes spruce gum. On inquiry we learned that there is +a constant demand for spruce gum, but an insufficient supply since +few make a business of collecting it. It appears that a few pounds of +clarified spruce gum and an equal quantity of "chicle" from South +America are mixed with a carload of paraffine wax and some flavoring +extract, the result being the "chewing gum" of commerce which is +distributed by the one-cent slot machines, and furnishes exercise for +the jaw muscles of the rising generation. It has been estimated that +more than five million dollars are expended for chewing gum in the +United States every year. + + [Illustration: Blue Mountain seen from Owl's Head] + +It also is possible to chew pure spruce gum, just as it is broken +from the tree trunk. I have tried it. In this operation one must +"watch his step" to avoid lockjaw. At least, caution must be +exercised until the quid is well "started." I understand that in some +places it is possible, at an increased cost, to buy spruce gum that +has been "started." + +We reached Dan'l's in time for a late luncheon and were none the +worse for our exploit. While we were on our lookout mountain we +recognized several lakes and ponds and learned that Plum Pond was a +long way from Muskrat City and to the south of it. Also, while there, +on a piece of birch bark we made a topographical map of the region in +view and laid out a new route to Muskrat City. This route was not a +direct bee-line. It was circuitous, but it would avoid the swamps, +the deep valleys and the steep ridges, and also would enter the city +following up along the brook. + +Having gone out to our headquarters on the lake for fresh supplies, a +week later we made another trip to Muskrat City. This time we carried +a small tent, an axe and food to last a week. While there we built a +log lean-to camp. It was placed on a shelf, or narrow level space on +the steep hillside, about seventy feet above the bottom of the +valley. The shelf was just wide enough for our building and the +fireplace in front. There were plenty of stones on the ground with +which we built the fireplace. We chose this elevation for our +building site because it would be above the fogs that often at night +settle in the bottom of a valley, on a stream or pond. + + [Illustration: Owl's Head over the roof of the saw mill] + +A rill, tumbling down the steep hillside, draining a cold spring +above, passed within thirty yards of the camp and supplied us with +the kind of drinking water that, in the city, we buy for thirty cents +a quart. This is a commodity that Nature distributes with lavish hand +throughout this entire mountain region. On every hillside may be +found one or more springs of pure soft water having a temperature of +approximately forty degrees on the hottest days of summer. Here, the +rheumatic, the dispeptic, the diabetic, and the fellow with kidneys, +may have the poisons washed out of his system; while the balsamic air +heals the rent in his breathing machinery. These processes may go +forward, not while he sits on a hotel porch and broods over his +troubles, but while he camps, explores, fishes, hunts and forgets his +disabilities. + + [Illustration: Inside of Camp at Muskrat City] + +Bige and I made many trips to, and spent many days at, Muskrat City. +We explored a large section of forest country adjacent thereto. In +the season, we frequently ate broiled partridge, venison and other +game, while a few minutes of fishing any day would furnish all the +trout we ever cared to eat. When we required a variation in diet, we +might go down stream about two miles to a pond and catch a mess of +bullheads or frogs. + +We made the acquaintance of many fur-bearing animals who lived in the +neighborhood. In these Bige took a deep interest, since he was always +looking forward to the winter season, when he should extend his old +trapping line over the mountains to this valley. This, indeed, was +one of the motives that induced the building of the camp. It provided +a sleeping place for him at the outer end of his trapping circuit. + +Personally, for many years, I have not engaged in the very strenuous +sport of trapping. I shall, therefore, represent the trapper by +proxy. When the snow in the forest is from four to five feet deep, +one may travel on snowshoes over the tops of witchhopple bushes and +much other underbrush which in summer impedes travel. Nevertheless, +it is not child's play to drag a pair of snow shoes fifteen or twenty +miles per day, visit a hundred and fifty traps, rebait and reset +them, skin the caught animals, and carry home the hides. All of this, +of course, must often be done when the thermometer is far below zero. +On so long a trapping line as this would be, a comfortable boarding +house at the outer end of the loop was, for many reasons, very +desirable. + +One of the frequent visitors to the brook that ran through Muskrat +City below our hillside camp, was a mink. She often caught small +trout, from three to five inches long. Some of these were eaten on +the spot, others were carried to her nest in a hole in the bank. They +doubtless were fed to her family of nine half grown young minks. + + [Illustration: A Mink] + +The mink is a small animal, having a long, slender body and short +legs. It walks rather clumsily, with back arched upward, but it can +go rapidly and gracefully in a springing, bounding movement. In this +manner it often travels long distances. In a farming section, mink +will rob the hen-house, eating eggs and killing young chickens. In +the woods, mink catch mice, frogs and eat eggs of water fowl, but +they specialize on small fish. In trapping mink, a piece of fish +makes good bait. A large number of mink skins are required in making +a fur garment for a human to wear, but considering its small size the +trapper gets a good price for a mink skin. + +On the hillside back of our camp, on occasions, a marten might be +seen chasing a red squirrel over the ground, up a tree trunk, through +the branches, jumping from one tree to another, and generally +catching and eating the squirrel. We don't care if he does. The red +squirrel eats the eggs of the partridge and our sympathies are with +the partridge. + +The marten is one of the most graceful and beautiful animals in our +forests. It has a rich brown coat and lives in remote, inaccessible +parts of the wilderness. It is more shy of the human animal than is +the mink. It is also about three or four times the size of mink and +will sometimes attack and kill a mink or a rabbit. The marten will, +when possible, vary his diet by eating nuts and small fruit. + +The marten makes a nest of moss, grass and leaves, in a hollow tree +or log or among rocks. They have also been found living in a +squirrel's nest, doubtless after killing the squirrels. Bait your +trap for a marten with a chipmunk, a wood-rat or a piece of meat. + + [Illustration: A Marten] + +A woodchuck sometimes ambled through one of the paths in the grass of +the meadow. A farmer would strenuously object to the presence of a +woodchuck in his meadow, where this animal would destroy a surprising +quantity of clover. In this forest meadow no one objected, and since +the woodchuck does not eat fish or flesh he was never molested. His +wife, however, must guard her young, as there are several +unscrupulous residents of this forest who would eat them without the +slightest compunction. + +Another fellow prowled about our valley, though he lived on the +ridges. He is larger than a marten and is also a handsome animal, but +of a somewhat different type. He sometimes attains an extreme length +of three and one-half feet and weighs eighteen or twenty pounds. He +is known as a "fisher." Sometimes, also, called "black-cat" or +"black-fox." The fisher is very ferocious and is feared by all +animals not larger than himself. He is powerful and agile; the +swiftest and most deadly of all the smaller forest carnivores. He +will kill marten, mink, raccoon, muskrat, rabbit, and sometimes a +fox. A fisher will attack a porcupine, tipping him over and biting +into his stomach and the underpart of the body, where there are no +quills. Nevertheless, fisher, when trapped, are often found with +porcupine quills in the skin and in various parts of the body. + +The fisher catches trout, and gets larger ones than would satisfy the +mink, so he is no friend of ours. The fisher also is charged with the +crime of following the trail of the trapper through the woods, +robbing his traps and eating the animals caught in them. Bige vowed +that he "would get that fellow next winter," and he "would get +thirty-five dollars for his hide." (Now it would bring a much larger +sum.) The proper procedure would be to set a second and larger steel +trap, carefully covered and chained to a tree, but without bait, in +such a position that when the fisher undertakes his high-handed game +of robbery he will walk on and be himself caught in the second trap. + +There was, of course, our old friend, the raccoon. He will find a +camp anywhere, and if one is not careful he will find the camp larder +and get away with the food. The coon has hands (fore feet) like a +monkey, and he can use them as skillfully. The coon will eat anything +a human will eat, and some other things. He takes his toll of frogs +and trout, and he does not scorn the trimmings of trout we dress for +our own table. Almost any kind of bait will do for the coon trap, and +a coon-skin automobile coat will do for either man or woman having +the price. + +Red foxes seldom were seen in daylight at our city camp, though at +night they were often heard barking. The fox is a very interesting +animal and whether living in an open farming country or in the deep +forest, he is credited with "living by his wits." By his acts he +exhibits remarkable reasoning powers and adaptability to conditions +that arise, though they may never before have been met. In the woods +his food is similar to that of the marten, although he cannot climb a +tree to capture his prey. The fox specializes on partridge and other +birds that nest on the ground. + +About a trap, the fox is very foxy. Tracks in the snow show when he +has visited one, and he will usually succeed in springing a trap +without getting caught in it. No matter how carefully it may be +concealed, he can, and often does, pull the trap out, tip it over, +spring it from the under side, then take out the bait. Every trapper +has his pet method of circumventing this foxy trick. The favorite +systems include the use of a second un-baited trap, which the fox is +expected to step on while he is playing with the baited trap. + +The dream and hope of the lifetime of every trapper is to some day +catch a freak, black or silver grey fox; the skin of which commands a +fabulous price. Such a catch would be like finding a gold mine. Of +course, if these freak foxes were oftener caught, their fur would be +less valuable. + +The fact that, notwithstanding the number of trout eaters, including +ourselves, who lived or roamed in our valley, there were still many +trout in the streams, was to our minds conclusive proof that there +were no otter in the neighborhood. An otter will clean the trout out +of a brook in a few days. He will eat many and leave the rest dead on +the bank, then move to another fishing place, ten or fifteen miles +away. But there is no proof that an otter might not wander through +this valley some time in the winter when the traps are set. The otter +is a great traveler; also, in a fur store he is an aristocrat. + +The varying hares, white rabbits, or snow-shoe rabbits, as they are +variously designated, were plentiful in and near Muskrat City. They +were often seen in the early dusk of evening, seldom in mid-day. +They, in common with many small forest animals, are night prowlers. +Doubtless for protective purposes, Nature provides this animal, like +the deer and some others, with the faculty of changing the color of +its coat with the change of seasons. When the snow falls in autumn, +this breed of rabbit molts its brown summer fur and takes on a new +coat as white as the snow itself. Again, when the snow melts and +disappears in spring the varying hare sheds its white fur and +acquires a new coat of brown for summer wear. The hind feet of this +animal are exceptionally large, especially in winter when the long +spreading toes are entirely covered with still longer fur, thus +forming broad snow-shoe shaped pads which enable their owner to +freely move about on deep soft snow. It is a curious fact that the +tracks left in the snow by this animal show the large spreading +prints of the two hind feet, placed ahead of the smaller imprints of +the fore feet, which at the end of a lope always bring up in the +rear. + +When startled, this rabbit has the habit of rapidly thumping on the +ground with its hind feet, making a dull drumming sound which may be +heard for a considerable distance. This thumping also is said to be a +signal employed during the mating season. + +Several years ago I witnessed a fight between one of these rabbits +and a domestic cat. The rabbit was a captive, enclosed by a tight +fence in a pen about sixteen feet square, in one corner of which was +a covered nest containing seven young rabbits. The cat had climbed +into the pen and was trying to steal a baby rabbit, when the mother +jumped on the cat's back and beat a rapid tatoo thereon with its hind +feet, and doubtless with toe nails extended, as the air was filled +with flying fur. The cat escaped over the fence, but for many days it +went about with a sore back, unprotected by its normal coating of +fur. + +The snow-shoe rabbit is generally defenseless against its many forest +enemies, and falls an easy victim to the trapper. It is a strict +vegetarian in diet, and in its forest home does no harm to man or +other animal. + +The muskrats, who owned the city, however, were most in evidence. +They held the center of the forest stage, and always secured the most +attention. Perhaps this was because there were more of them in our +valley than there were of any other animal. Possibly because the +muskrat is the most numerous of any fur-bearing animal in North +America. It is reported that in 1914 ten million American muskrat +skins were sold in London. Of course, during the same year other +millions were sold in the fur markets in various cities in the United +States. + + [Illustration: A Muskrat and his house] + +The muskrat has a compact body about twelve inches long from nose to +root of tail. The tail is long, naked and scaly, slightly flattened +vertically. It is used as a rudder in the water. The hind feet have +short webs and are otherwise adapted for swimming. Its fur is fine +and dense, interspersed with long, coarse hairs. Its color is dark +umber brown, except on the stomach, which is grey. It has a musky +odor due to secretions of a large gland. The muskrat is very +prolific, usually having several litters of young in a season, +totaling often as many as eighteen during a summer. + +Muskrats feed on roots and stems of succulent water plants and other +vegetables, varied with an occasional frog, fish, or fresh-water +clam. A muskrat who lives near our cottage has the habit of opening +clams and leaving the shells on our dock every night. The shells we +are obliged to sweep off in the morning. "Musky" builds on the marsh, +in the edge of a pond or near a stream, a curious cone-shaped house +or lodge. He stores up roots and grasses for winter use, frequently +building these in with mud into the walls of his house. Then in case +of shortage of other food, he eats his house. + +Bachelor or unmated muskrats sometimes dig holes in the bank of pond +or stream, making the entrance under or near the water. Also, they +sometimes build nests in tangled grass or a brush pile. + +A muskrat skin brings to the trapper a smaller return in unit value +than any other fur-bearing animal he captures. But he gets more of +them, so if market conditions are favorable the total revenue from +his catch is likely to be satisfactory. In the manufacture of fur +garments, however, the humble muskrat holds an important place. In a +fur factory, by the skillful use of tweezers for pulling out the +coarse grey hairs, by the use of clipping and singeing machines, with +the aid of dyes ("made in Germany") of various colors, his skin is +effectually disguised and it emerges therefrom not only in larger +numbers than the skins of any other four-footed beast, but completely +transformed in appearance, and masquerading under more different +aliases than are permitted to all the other fur animals combined. + +For example, the former resident of Muskrat City might appear in the +showroom of the fur dealer as "river mink," "mountain marten," +"valley sable," "spruce beaver," "brook fisher," "domestic raccoon," +"hillside fox," "fresh-water otter," "Hudson seal," etc., etc. Also, +sometimes he does good service under plain "muskrat." + +During many seasons since our first visit trappers have taken from +their backs the coats of many residents of Muskrat City. These have +been transformed and now, in cold weather and in hot weather, cover +the backs of women in other cities. Also, their four-footed neighbors +have captured and eaten many muskrats; nevertheless, the colony seems +to be just as numerous as when we first knew it. + +The snows of twenty winters have fallen in the forest since Bige and +I put Muskrat City on the map, and since we built the camp on the +hillside above it. Other trappers have followed Bige's trail through +the woods and have taken their toll of the inhabitants. But I am +confident that if a census were taken today, it would be found that +in population Muskrat City is holding its own quite equal to some of +the cities in Iowa. + +Doubtless it is a wise provision of Nature that those animals, birds +and fishes which are most killed and eaten by others are made most +prolific. Such thinning of their ranks may be necessary to avert +famine, disease or some worse disaster among them. In view of their +many predatory enemies, not forgetting the human killer of fish, it +is marvelous that any trout of legal size are found in a brook. + +Noises of the forest night are always interesting. While the camp +fire burns, the forest people in its immediate vicinity are generally +quiet. The fire is an unusual experience for them. It attracts them. +They are fascinated by it, as are small boys by a circus, and while +it burns they are likely to suspend their usual occupations and watch +the flare and flicker of the blaze and the weird shadows it casts. +Many of the less timid may approach quite near, others more wary will +circle quietly and cautiously about at a considerable distance but +always in view of the fire. If there should happen to be a light fall +of snow on the ground the tracks visible in the snow in the morning +will disclose the names of the visitors at the camp fire. + +Later at night, however, when the fire has died down, and is no +longer visible, one's forest neighbors will resume their usual +occupations, and the wakeful camper may listen to the patter of +hurrying footsteps, to the scratch of toe-nails on bark as a climber +goes up or down a tree trunk, to the sniff of the inquisitive fellow +who smells about the camp, to the chatter of the chap who talks to +himself, to the loping or jumping noises, to the splashes in the +brook, to the last despairing cry of some small animal as his life is +being crushed out by his captor. A deer, softly stepping along his +beaten path which leads down the valley to a pond where he goes every +night for drink, for water plants, or just to wallow, may encounter a +breeze bringing to his nostrils the human scent. He then will blow +his bugle blast, which can be heard a mile. In such case the wakeful +camper is never in doubt as to who spoke. The same is true when the +owl booms out across the valley his eternal question, "Who?" No other +bird or beast ever speaks in the same tone of voice. But most of the +smaller noises of the forest night are subjects for speculation. One +always instinctively tries to analyze and allocate each noise to its +author. In this game an intimate knowledge of the habits of forest +residents is useful, so that, at the camp breakfast in the morning, +one may confidently assert that so and so visited the camp last +night! + +When, as sometimes happened, both Bige and I were wakeful at the same +time, the breakfast hour was made interesting by differing opinions, +and discussions over the habits and identity of our noisy neighbors. +There are, of course, many birds and a few animals who sleep at +night, and are met with only in the daytime. These were not +considered in our discussions. + +One night at Muskrat City, both Bige and I were suddenly awakened by +most unusual sounds coming from the direction of the hillside across +the valley. Bige sprang up to a sitting posture, exclaiming, +"Sufferin' Cats! Did you hear that noise?" I did; and expressed the +opinion that "the suffering of the cats was acute." Immediately, the +sounds were repeated, if possible louder than before. It would be +difficult accurately to describe those sounds. We were reminded of +disputes we had heard, in the back yard, between two Thomas cats, +whose wordy arguments over their respective claims to "Mariah" often +ended in scratching and hair-pulling. I, however, never met any tom +cat who could produce one-tenth of the volume of noise that came +across that valley. + +There were two voices, one a little higher pitched than the other, +and both talked at once. Beginning in a low-toned complaining wail +like the last despairing cry of a lost soul entering perdition, +remarks would follow each other in crescendo volume, and in ever +increasing rapidity, epithets would be fired by the contestants until +the snarling, sarcastic statements were fairly spat out, ending in +shrieks that could be heard miles. After an interval of a few seconds +during which the disputants seemed to have changed their positions, +the argument was renewed, proceeding as before except that with each +repetition the anger and violence of the scrappers increased. At the +height of one of these tirades there was heard the scratching and +tearing of toe-nails on bark as one wordy fighter seemed to chase the +other up the trunk of a tree and through the branches. This was +quickly followed by two thuds as of one heavy body after another +striking the ground, then the breaking of sticks, the rustle of +leaves and brush as the two animals raced up the steep hillside. The +race was punctuated by snarling, snapping sounds, which died away in +the distance as the language fighters passed over the ridge until the +sounds finally became inaudible. It was a dark night, and at no time +did we get a glimpse, even indistinctly, of the scrappers. We are +still speculating and wondering who or what they were. + +This story has been told to many hunters and trappers familiar with +Adirondack forests. Opinions have been sought as to the probable +identity of these belligerent animals. So far, no plausible or +reasonable suggestion has been made. Some of the old-timers say the +tale reminds them of experiences of fifty or sixty years ago, when +the bay-lynx, bobcat or wild-cat made these woods and mountains their +home and hunting ground; but they have been exterminated. None of +these cats have been seen for more than a generation. + +Neither Bige nor I are acquainted with any animal capable of making +the particular kind of noise we heard that night at Muskrat City. Our +suggestion is, that possibly the wild-cats have come back. + +One winter an unusual number of snow storms occurred, following each +other in rapid succession until there was an accumulation of snow +over five feet deep throughout the forest and on the roof of our camp +at Muskrat City. This was followed by rain and freezing weather, +turning the snow into ice. The great weight of ice and snow proved +too heavy for the roof and it was broken down. In the following +spring a large maple tree fell across the camp and crushed it into a +tangled, shapeless wreck. Our log camp at Muskrat City has +disappeared, but as a memory it shall remain forever! + + + +END OF MUSKRAT CITY + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Muskrat City, by Henry Abbott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MUSKRAT CITY *** + +***** This file should be named 34524.txt or 34524.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/2/34524/ + +Produced by Linda M. Everhart, Blairstown, Missouri + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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