MUSK RATS

Hokitika Guardian, 22 November 1930, Page 8

MUSK RATS

ESCAPE FROM PRESERVE. A POTENTIAL DANGER. The news that sopie 13 months ago musk rats escaped fj’pm a Kincardineshire preserve is disquieting because ot the possibilities that are opened up. In the year two males and three female musquash were; imported into Central Europe from Alaska and liberated at Dobris. The voracious rodents now occupy, over, 12,000 square miles of territory, and their ramifications extend from 1 the Danube area-to the frontiers of Switzerland. At a conservative estimate the number" o* pests at present in Central Europe is said to exceed one hundred million—and this has happened in a quarter of a century!

Valiiable Skin. The musquash are, of course, of value because of their pe(ts, and their flesh is said to be good l to eat. The name “musk rat” arose, no doubt, from the distinct odour of musk which the animal exhales during the summer months Aquatic in habit, like the beaver, the musquash frequent the margins of streams or dams, under which it has its nest. The usual litter is from seven to twelve and normally there are four litters per annum, the first litter being able to breed during the same year The animal is very destructive, and its sharp incisor teeth will easily gnaw through the stoutest wire netting. In Central Europe the damage which the musquash have inflicted exceeds by far the damage caused by rabbits in Western Australia. The indictment against them includes damage to canals, waterworks, tunnels, roads, bridges, and reservoirs. Difficult to Dislodge. Once the musquash are firmly established in a locality, difficulty may be experienced in dislodging them, as they burrow for long distances, and the opening to the nesting burrow is nearly always under water. Moreover, they are naturally migratory in habit, the migratory period coinciding with the approach of autumn. The transit of musquash is now prohibited under statute in Germany, while the strictest precautions have been found necessary in Switzerland and certain parts of Belgium. It is pleasing, therefore, to reflect' that the Government of Britain intends taking steps to deal with the trouble at its source, and that close inquiry will be made regarding the whereabouts of musquash in Scotland. So far as is known there are four musk rat farms north of the Tweed.