Muskrat: nearly 300 years of French presence in southeastern Michigan has boiled down to an enduring passion for eating this little rodent. From Port Huron in the north down to the western shore of Lake Erie into Ohio, the descendants of Michigan's 18th century French community are dubbed "Mushrat" French. This foodway is a trait that in part distinguishes them as a unique cultural group. The taste for muskrat has proved to be pervasive and has spread to other groups. The Poles and the Germans have adopted it, and in this century, public muskrat dinners sponsored by churches and clubs have become popular annual rituals.