The muskrats life

[nube]

I put in 26 rat traps today and had a few questions but not really sure if anyone really knows the answers.
I was trapping a small slough that was about 12 yards long and 500 yards wide. In half of the lake I put in 9 traps. I came back and checked them 5 hours later and had 3 and one that got away. It got me thinking about rat populations and really how many would be in there.
Does anyone know the average muskrat population based on the number of houses?
Also I was wondering why I didn't have more rats in the traps as it is a fresh lake I am hitting and never trapped before.
My second question would be do they travel around more at night?
Then my 3rd question would be how far can they swim under the ice? I found some huts and there would not be another one for 100+ yards at times. I can't see them swimming that far and I must have missed a house or 2. If you find one hunt how far away is the next one usually? It would also be interesting to find out how far down a lake they will travel from house to house or if they stay in one small area.
If anyone has any thoughts on any of these questions I am all ears. I was pretty curious today to really know what went on under the ice. I would love to have a gps on a dozen or so of them and really see what kind of movement there is.

[sourdough doug]

You should prob., google up muskrats and gather what you need from there. Their huts are just pushups on the ice for them to feed and rest in.. Their houses are in the banks and therefore not the 100yds between. Shallow sloughs is their favorite habitat, not deeper lakes or rivers and will share houses with beaver.
Enjoy the read....

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by nube

I put in 26 rat traps today and had a few questions but not really sure if anyone really knows the answers.
I was trapping a small slough that was about 12 yards long and 500 yards wide. In half of the lake I put in 9 traps. I came back and checked them 5 hours later and had 3 and one that got away. It got me thinking about rat populations and really how many would be in there.
Does anyone know the average muskrat population based on the number of houses?
Also I was wondering why I didn't have more rats in the traps as it is a fresh lake I am hitting and never trapped before.
My second question would be do they travel around more at night?
Then my 3rd question would be how far can they swim under the ice? I found some huts and there would not be another one for 100+ yards at times. I can't see them swimming that far and I must have missed a house or 2. If you find one hunt how far away is the next one usually? It would also be interesting to find out how far down a lake they will travel from house to house or if they stay in one small area.
If anyone has any thoughts on any of these questions I am all ears. I was pretty curious today to really know what went on under the ice. I would love to have a gps on a dozen or so of them and really see what kind of movement there is.

There is a lot to cover here.

First. I have no idea what the average might be, but I've taken 18 out of a pond that had only one hut.

Second, Muskrat make two types of structures. A hut and a pushup.
Huts look like miniature beaver houses made with grass and reeds.
Pushups look like a wad of debris, usually they are roughly the size of a medium sized mixing bowl turned upside down. I've seen huts that were as big as a Pup Tent.

As you probably figured out already, they live in the huts and in holes in the bank.
Pushups are breathing chambers. They allow the Rat to extend it's range far beyond what it could swim with one breath. And because of that, there is no limit to how far they can go. But typically I don't see them making pushups more then a few hundred yards from the nearest hut. I think 800 yards was the furthest I've seen from the nearest hut, or possible bank den. IE hole.

Also, Rats will exhale under water, then retrieve the bubble that forms under the ice, which is now, somewhat oxygenated air. I was told that they can only do this a couple of times before there isn't enough oxygen gained to be worth doing.

Rats are more active late in the day and at night. But I don't know how much they move after dark. Only that they do.

You don't say how or where you are setting you traps so I can't even speculate on why your catch is low. But I will say this. I had my best success with trapping the pushups.

Tunnel traps in runs can be very very effective from what I hear, but the waters that I trapped weren't good for finding runs. The water was too deep. So I don't have much experience with finding or setting runs. All I know is that the guys that trapped shallow bodies of water and used tunnel traps, got a lot more Rats then I or my neighbours caught.

[bagwan]

Keg is bang on with large air bubbles trapped under the ice. I've actually watched them get a breath of air when rhe ice is clear in early fall. Also we used to mark all the runs in the fall and set in the runs during the winter. Some runs will be full of feed and others wide open going to the feed and these are the best to trap. Also some runs freeze in at the inlets and they can"t make it to the slough thus the trapping in the run. This happens in small sloughs like you describe so your guys may not be in the slough per se. This is also why you see road kill in the spring as they dig out of the run to get to a slough. Also hormones are kicking in. As for young, think multiple a year and rather large birth rates. Even when trapped at a high rate the population increases very rapidly. The same with drought as its not long before they recover again.

[Redfrog]

MMMMMMMMM! muskrat the other dark meat.

I haven't had a muskrat dinner for about 40 years. Sprintime on southern Ontario means some of the Taverns had "all you can eat" muskrat dinners on a Friday or Saturday night. I don't know if they till do or not.

[nube]

I coudn't eat one Redfrog! yuck
I checked traps this morning. Got 14. Seems like they like it in the evening and night for movement compared to mid day. I missed one that I had a piece of apple on a conibear under the ice at one of the push ups. They ate 1/4 of the apple and when it sprung it missed. That was in a 110. Got one in a 120 with apple so I guess that is good bait. He got it hard when the trap went off.

[pointer]

Carrots work awesome on the triggers of the conibears me and my boy cleaned up last spring using 110's with carrots

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by nube

I coudn't eat one Redfrog! yuck
I checked traps this morning. Got 14. Seems like they like it in the evening and night for movement compared to mid day. I missed one that I had a piece of apple on a conibear under the ice at one of the push ups. They ate 1/4 of the apple and when it sprung it missed. That was in a 110. Got one in a 120 with apple so I guess that is good bait. He got it hard when the trap went off.

Sounds like you are on the right track with your sets.
We use that method when the ice is under a foot thick and when the weather is close to or above zero.

As the temperature dropped and the ice thickened we would switch to setting a #1 longspring right in the pushup.

It's a fast and easy set to make. One sideways swing of an axe, just above the ice will pop the top off the pushup revealing the chamber inside.

Wire a two or three foot "strong" stick on to the chain, you want the chain at the middle of the stick.

Set the trap and then swing the spring as far as it will go towards the trigger. Coil the chain on the breathing platform and place the set trap on top of the chain. You want as much chain as possible inside the pushup.

Make sure the frame of the trap points towards the hole in the ice where the rat enters the pushup, with the spring end the furthest from the hole.

Then place the top carefully back on the pushup and kick a little snow over it.

When the rat goes to climb up onto his breathing platform he will get caught. His first instinct is to dive to get away, and the weight of the trap will hold him down till he drowns. That is why you want as much chain inside as you can manage. So that your rat can not reach the surface to get a breath of air.

We used a similar set to catch them in open water. Only instead of using a platform the rat had constructed, we made one for him out of a slab of 2x8.

It worked well.

[ishootbambi]

Originally Posted by nube

I checked traps this morning. Got 14.

they arent worth much are they? just doing it more for the fun of it than the income? i really need to get involved in this stuff. it would give me something to do for the 10 weeks spring break.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by ishootbambi

they arent worth much are they? just doing it more for the fun of it than the income? i really need to get involved in this stuff. it would give me something to do for the 10 weeks spring break.

All you need is a gloved hand or a tire iron to get all the furs you want

LC

[gordfishing]

forty years ago I trapped rats
my best was 55 in 5 days in the fall, next spring nothing, giant winter kill
checked traps twice a day, even pulled out the odd mink
good results in the spring with floater sets and orange peels
I can't believe the prices you get
$3.00 we got back in 1972 and in todays $$$ we got a lot for beavers if I remember a good one fetched $60.00
spring badgers brought good cash too , way back when all over $50.00
enjoy your spring trap

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by gordfishing

forty years ago I trapped rats
my best was 55 in 5 days in the fall, next spring nothing, giant winter kill
checked traps twice a day, even pulled out the odd mink
good results in the spring with floater sets and orange peels
I can't believe the prices you get
$3.00 we got back in 1972 and in todays $$$ we got a lot for beavers if I remember a good one fetched $60.00
spring badgers brought good cash too , way back when all over $50.00
enjoy your spring trap

Do you remember 800 + for Lynx and 400 + for Fischer?

In 1978 my dad made more trapping for two months then I did driving water truck in the oilfield for four months.

A trapper made real money back then.

[braggadoe]

Originally Posted by ishootbambi

they arent worth much are they? just doing it more for the fun of it than the income? i really need to get involved in this stuff. it would give me something to do for the 10 weeks spring break.

they can chew each other up pretty bad as the ice comes off in the spring.

as prolific as they are. and easy to catch,easy to process. 10$+ average. people with alot/big sloughs are mopping up.

[C Taylor]

The rats are just starting to make a come back since the drought. We still have a lot of dry sloughs that I used to trap all winter. I remember getting over a hundred one season in a slough that would be about 100m by 40m. Only had a couple houses and the rest lived in the bank of the gravel road

[nube]

I thik they average $10+ Bambi! I have caught over 50+ now in about 8 or 9 days of having traps set. I don't drive more than 10 min from home and the kids love it. I am doing it because it is fun and I need some exercise. It is nice to get out and enjoy a walk every so often.
I think I will pull the traps tonight. Big snow comming and the ice is getting weaker. Got to leave a few to breed for next year as well. lol
One thing I did find very weird is that I think about 90%+ of the rats I have caught this year are all males. Not sure why

[Dakota369]

I have a buddy from Ontario and he is looking for some to eat (he says their great, and frankly I am curious myself) so if any of you can part with some so I can hook him up it would be greatly appreciated. There may even be some nice elk roasts it it for you!

Thanks

Dakota

[nube]

Dakota, let me pull some traps tonight and I will give you some if you want it that bad. How many are you thinking? Yuck!!

[nube]

Got 9 more again tonight. I think i will give it a go for 2 more days and be done till it is time to whack a few beavers.

[AllTheAbove]

nice, stacking them up

[drake]

very generous of you nube....to bad musrkat gives me the D.

[ganderblaster]

Hey Nube don't take this wrong but you should buy a Trappers Ed Manual book. It has so much info on animal habits , management and fur handling and is written very well. I just finished reading it and it was the most interesting literature I have read in a long time. It's only $50.

[Dakota369]

Originally Posted by nube

Dakota, let me pull some traps tonight and I will give you some if you want it that bad. How many are you thinking? Yuck!!

Thanks for the offer. 3 hinds would make a meal for 1 person,....... so whatever you would be willing to part with. He says they are a treat, and we both have similar taste's so if there is anything you want need in exchange by all means let me know!

Thanks

D

[jim summit]

Open water Rat trapping is still a ways off up here. Snowing this morning, and -11.

3' of snow cover over the sloughs.......

Hoping to have open water by the end of April.

[nube]

Thanks Ganderblaster. I have a buddy that just ordered it and will take a look when he is done. I am sure there is some good info.

I am not sure if there will be much of a season by the time the ice goes out. I was excited to catch a few beaver open water but not sure if I will have a chance with this new weather coming in.

[Redfrog]

WOW! there's more to these muskrat dinners than I thought.

I mentioned the local taverns having muskrat dinners in the spring where I grew up in sothern Ontario, but I didn't realize the history that went with them.

The Catholic church gave a special dispensation to early French /Catholics trappers who had to eat fish on Fridays for Lent. The pope said the muskrat would be a fish at least for lent. YESSSSSS!

Here's some links.

Muskrat dinners are still favorites.

The last link is to dinners in New Jersey, for $30 a plate.

MMMMMMMUSKRAT!!!


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...r-detroit.html

http://www.monroeboatclub.org/amuskratbecomesafish.htm

http://www.catholic.org/national/nat...y.php?id=23328

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI75UMSxaVo

http://www.eatinginsjersey.com/2012/...r-muskrat.html

[nube]

YUCK!!!! You eat them coyotes first Redfrog

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by nube

YUCK!!!! You eat them coyotes first Redfrog

I suppose you never ate a coyote??? How about squirrels? Beaver?

[Smokinyotes]

What are muskrats worth these days. 35 years ago the best I got was $6.00. Wasn't bad money for a 12 year old kid when I would get 40-50 a week.

[nube]

Smokinyotes they are about 10-12$
REdfrog, I have ate da red squirrel before but me thinks I would have to be menatl to eat one of them there dogs that carry fleas!! I am sure the rat would taste fine but no thanks. YUCK!!!!!

[KegRiver]

I saw a Muskrat put strolling along the secondary today.

After reading this I'm wishing I had rescued it for the stew pot.

I've eaten most of the wild species mentioned as edible but never Muskrat.
I think I'm gonna do something about that.