Trapping muskrats
People have a problem thinking of the muskrat in a good light. Because of the rat name and the rat tail, most people can't think about eating them. Muskrats live anywhere there is water, including ditches, ponds, lakes, rivers, etc. There diet is cattail roots, sweet flag, bulrush, apples, etc. They eat good food and are delicious to eat, but I think they have one of the best furs, silky soft and smooth. In Louisiana they sell the muskrat at the meat store under the name "marsh rabbit," and when you stop and think about it they are correct. The muskrat eats good food from the wild just like a wild rabbit does.
Anyways, muskrat are legal to trap and are great for beginners to start on. Most farmers with a pond are more then happy to let you trap them.
If you are trapping a pond, or ditch muskrats, dig holes starting underwater angling up toward land. Walk in the water at the edge looking for their round holes, around 4" diameter. If the water is clear, they are easy to spot by looking for the pile of mud and trail leading to it. Now, look up on land. If there is a cave in, skip that hole because the muskrats have abandoned it. That is why you walk in the water, to prevent you from causing the cave in. Just set the #110 over the hole stabilizing and wired off to a stake that you pushed down in the mud (a long stick will work). Then go find the next one, set it and so on.
If there are muskrat houses built out of mud and cattails about 1 to 4 feet around, these will have den entrances too. Use your boot around the edge and you should feel a slight depression leading to the hole. Run your boot up to the hole and set the trap the same way. There can be up to 4 entrances on a large den, but one or two will be the most traveled. You can tell by the deep run leading to the den.
The last set to cover is the culvert set. If there is a 6 to 10" culvert pipe with water in it. Set the trap in front and narrow down the side with sticks, so the muskrat has to go through the trap to get in the pipe. I never, ever pass up a culvert set, they are the closes thing to a guaranteed catch as they come. I have narrowed down 3 feet wide culverts with a trap on each end and frequently took doubles. If the culvert connects one body of water to another, set one on each end. Make sure the trap is stabilized well because the muskrats come in to this pipe fast.
This will get you started, there are numerous other sets you can make. Just play around and try whatever you think will work. Just have fun. Remember, stabilize means the trap cannot be knocked over even if the animal hits the side. You don't have to make it rock solid -- just make sure light hand pressure won't knock the trap over. Let me know how you do and any problems you may have. You can e-mail me with any questions.
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