Muskrat

Lore & Background

Muskrats spend most of their time in water and can swim underwater for 12 to 17 minutes. Their bodies are less sensitive to carbon dioxide buildup than those of most other mammals, and they can close off their ears to keep water out. Their hind feet are partially webbed and are their primary means of propulsion, while their long, scaly, laterally compressed tail functions as a rudder for directional stability.

They live in families of a male and female pair and their young, building nests burrowed into banks with underwater entrances or constructing push-ups from vegetation and mud in marshes. Muskrats feed mostly on cattail and other aquatic vegetation, but also eat small animals such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, fish, and small turtles. They are most active at night or near dawn and dusk.

Reader's Guide

The muskrat is significant as a keystone species in wetlands, where its feeding and nest-building activities help maintain open areas and influence plant species abundance. It is also a crucial food resource for many predators, including pikes, snapping turtles, American mink, foxes, coyotes, gray wolves, American black bears, lynxes, great horned owls, gyrfalcons, American goshawks, bald eagles, golden eagles, raccoons, black snakes, American alligators, and cottonmouths.

In its introduced range in the former Soviet Union, the golden jackal is its greatest predator. Muskrats are prolific breeders, with females having two or three litters a year of six to eight young each, and their populations go through regular cycles of rise and dramatic decline over six to ten years. The species is classed as a prohibited new organism under New Zealand's Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing its importation.

Did You Know?

• The muskrat's tail is covered with scales rather than hair and is laterally compressed to act as a rudder.
• The specific name zibethicus means 'musky', referring to the animal's scent glands located in the tail.