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Article: Muskrat ramble: imagine living in a house built of pizza. When you get hungry, you could just pull off part of the wall and bite right into it. On cold winter days, there would be little need to go out grocery shopping. But if you got too hungry, you might eat a hole right through the wall, and be left with a nasty draft and an opening that would appear inviting to unwelcome guests.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- New York State Conservationist
- Article date:
- October 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As a Naturalist Intern at DEC's Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne, I sometimes told classes that this is what the life of a muskrat is like.
Although muskrats will supplement their diet with crustaceans and fish, their principal foods are cattails, sedges, and other aquatic plants. Muskrats will use these same plants to build the lodges in which they live. Children enjoy the "house of pizza" description, and the story whets their appetite to learn more about this interesting wetland creature.
From the early colonial era until today, beaver pelts have been more highly prized than muskrat pelts, due in part to their larger size. Beavers ...