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By Gerry Oudorkirk What are the essential dif- ferences between rats and muskrats? Rick Dowson. a natural resource interpreter at the Laurel Creek Nature Cen- tre, said that he wouldn't be at all surprised if people mistook muskrats for rats. Sunday's game between Oakville (in the stripped shirts) and Watetloo's Athletic A's was full of ups and downs, and at times even looked like a boxing match. . There is a difinite difference between rats and muskrats “If you're going rat hun- ting," said Rick, "and you see anything that resembles a rat, you‘re going to kill it if it moves. It's a spur of the moment thing -- a normal reaction." There are a number of dif- ferences between the two rodent cousins, Mr. Dowson explained: .“Muskrats have a flat, ridged tail. Rats, on the other hand, have a perfectly round, scaley tail. A mature musEFat will average two feet long, including its tail. whereas a mature Nor- wegian rat, say one about four years old, will measure about one and a half feet long. "There's differences in the fur too. The muskrat will be dark brown or black; the rat will be greyish brown color on top, and a lighter tan color on bottom. The mushrat's ears aren't as obvious as those of the rat, and the muskrat has a blunt nose, whereas the rat's nose is pointed. "When rats run, they tend to hump, The muskrat will hump, but it's nowhere near as pronounced a hump as with the rat. Muskrats love the water and are vege- tarians You usually won't find rats swimming, be- cause they're land animals. and are omnivorous. “Rats are totally man- adapted. They depend on man's activities for their food. They need a ready access to a permanent gar- bage site or other food sour- ce in order to'survive. Rats are responsible, according to a World Health Organiza- tion study, for 12 per cent of stored food destruction. You won't find rats and muskrats living in the same area without conflict. They're incompatible." There are definitely muskrats in Heasley Park. Mr. Dawson was able to identify muskrat tracks and spoor droppings for the Chronicle. Ken Pflug, direc- tor of community services, investigating for the city of Waterloo came up with the same results. In response to Alderman Blake Hull‘s question, “Where does the council stand on undesirable ani- mats?", Mr. Pflug said the city would hire an exter- minator if brown rats be- came a problem. There are already muskrat trappers in Va- terloo. According' to Mr. Bruce Buckland, wildlife manage- ment officer for the Depart- ment of Natural Resources in Hespeler, there were 24 trappers in the City of Wa- terloo. Says he, “Muskrats are a renewable reirource. They're trapped to keep their population down. Up to 80 per cent of the muskrat population can be harvested annually. In 1977, there were 340 trappers- in the Wa- terloo. Wellington, Wen- tworth, Halton areas. They took 21,707 muskrat pelts in 1977, down from the 1976 fi- gure of 27,519. In 1976, there were 479 trappers. " Mr. Buckland maintains that the completely submer- sible traps used to capture muskrats, are not dan- gerous to children or house pets. 11mm“! WA. '1lmiFtttet4ttxtittet to provide employment. A sum of $1,125,000 has been earmarked for this project alone. Get out from béhind that desk. Stand up and stretch those muscles. You'll feel a lothetter for it! tor of an exercise break pro- gram operating in _ Kit- chener-Waterloo, wishes everyone would adopt this philosophy. She and her staff of 10 exercise break leaders armtrying their best to make this a poetrittilitr. The exercise break con- cept originated in EurOpe in the early 1930's and is still carried out today. Ms. Hil- derley said it is compulsory in some ofthe communist countries. Jn Canada it is presently operating in eight provin- ces. It is beingfunded by the Federal Labour Intensive Project Program (FLIP), a $150-miilion thrust designed .J‘hc ttreaku'LraggttNtraW. seven and a half minutes in length, during use]: time participants carry out a series of easy rhythmical exercises done to music. It is not designed to makeuc person totally "fit" and should not cause them to perspire, feel uncomfor- table or tired. Special cloth- By Gerry Oudorkirk The $20-miuion Conestoga Mall will have a split open- ing date because of a car- penter's strike. Fred B. Smith, regional manager of Cambridge Lea- seholds Ltd., said the three big retail outlets - Robin- son's department smre, K Mart and Dominion - will open on August 16, the or- iginally scheduled grand opening date. An apportion- ment of the other retail out- lets will also open that day. Breaks wake . “T tired muscles Mr. Smith said the others should be open by mid-Sep- tember, but because of the strike, he could not confirm an opening date. Of the 71 stores in the mall, 67 have been leased. The primary business area of the mall will be the Waterloo, St. Jacobs, El- Conestoga' mall to open in stages Inside Comment Sports Habitation required. Ail exercise breaks are 60min everyday working attire and some an performed while sitting in a m‘A lot of people (37n- ployeesparticipating in the break) feel embarrassed and inhibited at first ttpt they usually learn to really like it," said Ms. Hilderley. "We hope that this will give them the idea of getting in- volved in a fitness program later in the future." leaders, grandstand stu- dents of anthology and/or recreation programs, go. into the community and sell the idea to nursin- homes, m, offices, and any- where employees are geoch- tary. The program costs nothing, andfor a “to a week-and-a-half the break leader leads the staff in the relaxing exercises. If they decide to go with it on a full time basis, she trains a vo- lunteer to lead them and leaves them the necessary instruction booklets and music. Approximately 121 busin- eomhave shown a positive attitude since the prugram's inception in April. The grant runs out at the end of Au- ing iti gquipgxent is got mira area according to Mr. Smith. The secondary bu- siness 'area will cover Kitchener, Cambridge, Guelph, Fergus-Etora, Drayton, Arthur, and areas north. Once all the stores are open, hall officials hope to draw an average of 200,000 customers a week. That works out to over 3,000,000 by the end of 1970. No exact figures were available, but Mr. Smith es- timated the fully-opera- tional mall would employ in excess of 1,000 people. One of the featuresof the mall will be a special par- king area for horses and buggies. The parking area will be equipped with hit- ching posts and a watering trough, and will have a ce- ment pad base. Horses have a tendency to sink into warm asphalt. The exercise break it' g ”a, Pages ' 6,7 10-1 1 23,24