Musquash, also called MUSK-RAT, or ONDATRA (Fiber zibethicus), a rodent quadruped, a native of North America, from the Rio Grande to the Arctic regions. The genus to which it belongs contains only one other species, F. allenii, from Florida. They belong to the family Muridae. The musquash is in shape nearly similar to the brown rat; the head and body are about 15 inches in length, the tail 10 inches. The whole body is covered with a short, downy, dark-brown fur, intermixed with longer and coarser hairs. It is a very aquatic animal, seldom wandering from the rivers, lakes, or marshes in which it makes its abode. It is chiefly a vegetable feeder, but like other Muridae will occasionally take to animal food—the mollusc Unio is a favourite delicacy. The fur is in demand, and forms an article of commerce—skins in large numbers being still exported from America to Britain and other European countries. The musquash burrows in the banks of streams and ponds, the entrances of its burrows being always under water. In marshes the musquash builds a kind of hut, collecting coarse grasses and mud, and raising the fabric from 2 to 4 feet above the water. The flesh of the musquash, at those seasons when it is fat, is in some request among the American Indians, and is said to be not unpalatable.