Mule Bucks and the Bucked-Tooth Rat

track

track

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
89   0   0
Location
Okotoks
Well I had nothing better to do on New Years Day therefore I headed out into the prairies to scout for mule deer bucks. While driving the grid roads I found this bucked-tooth rodent on the side of the road. I believe he was warming himself from the heat convection off the asphalt. Man these little guys can really jump. Several times he lunged at me crotch high...........now that was getting personal. After a few minutes of cat and rat I managed to grab him by the scruff of the neck. After I gave him a severe scolding to stay off the road he was released in a nearby culvert.
BTW, saw many mule deer but no big bucks...................maybe tomorrow evening.
027_zpscd24ab9f.jpg

032-1_zps5638707b.jpg
 
Swamp Rabbit. Served at a game dinner in Williams Lake over 20 years ago. They were obviously from a trapper.
Quite tasty but I bet they would be even better if freshly killed.
Would that be hunting, trapping or preditor control? and what is the legality of taking it strickly for food?
 
My grandfather was a trapper, an he said the best way to kill a muskrat so no bullet hole was grab them by the tail, hold em up and karate chop across the back of the neck. I had many exciting attempts to accomplish this but only killed a few. Funniest one was caught a muskrat, put it in a mandarin orange box and bunjee corded it onto the rack of my cousins snowmachine..... The excitement when that rat exploded out of the box was something ill never forget! Lucky that little bugger never sunk its teeth in his face! Oh we laughed a long time about that one. Always fun to come across a muskra on land, just mind the teeth
 
horseman2 said:
Swamp Rabbit. Served at a game dinner in Williams Lake over 20 years ago. They were obviously from a trapper.
Quite tasty but I bet they would be even better if freshly killed.
Would that be hunting, trapping or preditor control? and what is the legality of taking it strickly for food?
Click to expand...
I like these little guys, except when they swim out towards my decoys while duck hunting and start chewing on the decoy cords. I never thought to kill this little guy for any reason, except to send him safely on his way which would be off the road.....................I did what hunters are noted for, "wildlife conservation". I love wildlife and enjoy watching them what they do best.
 
track said:
I like these little guys, except when they swim out towards my decoys while duck hunting and start chewing on the decoy cords. I never thought to kill this little guy for any reason, except to send him safely on his way which would be off the road.....................I did what hunters are noted for, "wildlife conservation". I love wildlife and enjoy watching them what they do best.
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting him go track. I like to see them too. I like to watch all kinds of wildlife in their natural habitat. Otters doing the run and slide on ice are one of the most fun to watch.
 
Cute little buggers...I once watched a guy try to shoo one off of a road and encouraged him by shoving him with his gum-boot clad foot. The 'rat turned around and clamped onto the toe of the rubber. It took a few good shakes of his foot to get the critter to let go. He then non-chalantly sauntered into the ditch...was pretty funny.
 
Cool pics. Glad you let him go.

My dad has a story from when he was a kid growing up about a muskrat turning around and charging him and then jumping at him.

He has never killed a muskrat, squirrel, or gopher since.
 
I remember seeing at least 20 or so of them on the spring ice, sunning themselves.
I doubt the ice was more than ½" thick, but they were all spread out on top, enjoying
the sunshine. Never entered my head to kill any.
Eagleye.
 
track said:
I like these little guys, except when they swim out towards my decoys while duck hunting and start chewing on the decoy cords. I never thought to kill this little guy for any reason, except to send him safely on his way which would be off the road.....................I did what hunters are noted for, "wildlife conservation". I love wildlife and enjoy watching them what they do best.
Click to expand...

The reason i said these rats are a menace is that when they get on farm dugouts they dig holes, i have seen more than a few cows and a few horses end up with broken legs or end up lame from tendons torn that they have to be put down.

In the wild they may not be so bad, but they have no place around farmland.
 
In the canals that move water around Saskatchewan, they dig holes thru the plastic liner causing all kinds of grief.
However, they do have a beautiful coat of fur, and I'd love to have a muskrat coat.
 
I love the little buggers. They're not terribly bright and lots of things like to eat them - fox, coyotes etc. which is likely why they are such prolific breeders. When I was a kid my dad used to trap muskrats and beavers. Some of the tube sets we would put out were pretty cool and you could always count on a few rats to be in the traps the next day. We just watch them now and there always seems to be a couple kicking around the beaver ponds we waterfowl hunt or rivers while fishing.
 
have had some close calls reaching in checking traps in houses only to find a live rat on the other end of the chain. Had a good deep slice in my leather glove once from one trying to bite me while checking a house. They are really fun to watch going about their daily routine no doubt.
 
Viscious little critters, watch your dog around them. They are all cute and cuddly looking little buggers until you get too close then the buck tooth fangs and claws get unleashed. Had to stitch up my neighbours dog more than once after trying to play with these little fur balls from hell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom