A week or so ago we had some warm
weather days and decided to go camping. We camped near a local river
and did some hiking ( or four-wheel-drive wheelchairing) and
photography. It was great to get back to doing outdoors things after
a long winter. We made it down to the river, and although fishing
season is not open for a few weeks here we did get to observe the
wildlife.
One of the things that is kind of fun
to do when you are near most water with bulrushes, is to call for
muskrats. Believe it or not, I read about how to call muskrats when I
was in about grade 9, and I paid enough attention that class to
remember how to do it. This is basically a piece of that goofy, useless knowledge that takes up the empty spaces in your head, of which I apparently have an ample supply of. To make the call, all you do is hold your lips tightly together
and clench them with your teeth, and then suck air through the corner
of your mouth. The high-pitched squeal is much like blowing on a
piece of grass, and this is the sound that muskrats make. Using this
technique you can call a muskrat that is several hundred yards away
and it will come right up to you. I have been using this technique
for years for entertainment, and unfortunately I used to use it when
I hunted them for fur as a teenager with great success.
The following is a video that we took
of me calling a muskrat while we were out camping the other day.
