Date of Award:

5-1951

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Wildland Resources

Department name when degree awarded

Wildlife Management

Committee Chair(s)

Jessop B. Low

Committee

Jessop B. Low

Committee

William F. Sigler

Committee

Kenneth R. Stevens

Committee

J. Duncan Brite

Committee

Merrill H. Gunnell

Abstract

Perhaps no mammal on the North American Continent has received more attention in the literature than the muskrat (Ondatra spp.), but little of this material pertains to the reactions of muskrat populations to drought conditions. The author was unable to find any literature containing information on the reactions of the Rocky Mountain muskrat Ondatra zibethica osoyoosensis (Lord) to drought conditions in Utah. This information is of vital importance in formulating muskrat management programs in the State.

On many farms the muskrat population represents the greatest cash value of any kind of wildlife, and they utilize swamp areas and marshlands that are of no value for agricultural purposes. The maximum return from muskrats lies in the number that can be produced rather than in the value of the individual pelts; hence they can be produced at a profit only where optimum living conditions occur. Errington (1939) reported these conditions are in areas where dense growths of herbaceous vegetation occur in close proximity to still or sluggish water that fluctuates neither suddenly or greatly in depth.

To aid in placing the muskrat under sound management in Utah there is a definite need for this information, because optimum living conditions are often lacking in many areas of the arid intermountain region during hot summer months. Observations made and data collected in the field were conducted with these points in mind.

In July, 1950, the author initiated an investigation of the reactions of the muskrat population to drought conditions at Ogden Bay Bird Refuge, Hooper, Utah. This area was selected for study because it represented a typical drought condition of marshes during the summer months around Great Salt Lake and in northern Utah.

Two weeks were spent in surveys of the refuge before intensive observations were started. These surveys gave an insight to the drought conditions that prevailed on the refuge and the effects on muskrat populations in this area.

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