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Common Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)

Muskrat | Stillwater, MN | View Enlarged Image

The Beaver's Smaller Brother

When you get right down to it, Muskrats and Beavers have a lot in common. They are both amphibious rodents; both have partially-webbed feet and a rudder-like tail that make them agile swimmers. One thing the muskrat have that their larger brothers don't however, is a jaw structure that allows them to eat underwater. This can be quite an advantage, considering that most of their predators (and since they're smaller than the Beaver, they have more potential predators,) rely on it coming up on shore, or at least up for air. It can, according to The National Audubon Society's Field Guide to Mammals, remain submerged for up to 17 minutes before coming up for air†, more than enough time to leave its den, grab a mussel or snail from the bottom of the lake, eat it, and return to the safety of its home without ever being spotted by most predators.

Muskrats are active year-round day and night, though they seem to be easiest to spot around dusk. Like Beavers, Muskrats often live in dens, which are usually constructed from under trees or in dense patches of cattails, and made of branches, reeds, or cattails molded together with mud, seaweed, or lily pads. Muskrats will also build lakeside burrows, often taking over the abandoned dens of Fox, Woodchucks, or Beavers. These lodges look something like a Beaver's, though they are quite a bit smaller, and are usually only inhabited by a few individuals, rather than an extended family. They prefer to be near the safety of water at all times, and will often dig an underground channel from their den to the nearest body of water. If you're wandering around a lake or pond, and notice a narrow channel or frisbee-sized hole near the water, it's a good indication that Muskrats are about. Wherever they live, Muskrats prefer to keep their homes as clean as possible, and will almost always go to the bathroom outside.

Though Muskrats are active during the winter, most of their activity during the colder months takes place beneath the ice. As such, Muskrats tend to set up house on lakes and ponds that are deep enough to avoid freezing solid in the winter months. Muskrat populations often plummet during severe droughts.

Feeder Tips:

Try scattering acorns or corn on the ground, or putting some in a ground feeder close to the water, and muskrats will walk right up to eat. Like most aquatic mammals, they're a little shortsighted, so you can often come within a few meters without disturbing them. Try to place the food as close to the water as possible (floating feeding platforms are a great idea). This minimizes their exposure to predators.

Some interesting Muskrat facts:

• Muskrats are related to Beavers, but are generally smaller with long, black, rat-like tails they use as rudders.
• Muskrats, like Beavers, were once hunted for their fur.
• Muskrats build "feeding platforms", sometimes partially submerged, often just above the waterline. These are usually made up of discarded foodstuffs. If you see sandy areas near shore littered with broken snail or mussel shells, it's a good indicator of a muskrat.
• Muskrat build their dens out of mud, seaweed, reeds, lily pads, and grasses. They will usually build the entrances under the water level.
• Muskrats can stay underwater for up to seventeen minutes at a time.
• If you see a Muskrat towing a willow branch, lily pad, or cattail through the water, it may be building a new home, or adding a new wing on to an old one!
• If you have a bird feeder within a hundred feet of a lake or wetland, it may attract a brave (or hungry) Muskrat or two.
• Muskrat are prolific breeders. They may reproduce up to five times in a year, and give birth to up to ten young.

Multimedia:

Muskrat hauling branches | Stillwater, MN	Muskrat trail marker; track | Stillwater, MN	Muskrat trail marker; lodge | Stillwater, MN
Muskrat trail marker; feeding platform | Stillwater, MN	Muskrat trail marker; scat | Stillwater, MN

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	National Audubon Society's Field Guide to Mammals
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