Ondatra zibethicus
Rollin
Muskrats are large
rodents
that always live near water. They have thick brown fur and a
long, furless, scaly tail. They can grow up to two feet long
(with tail). Their rear feet are webbed for swimming, and
their eyes and ears are very small. Muskrats live in
marshes,
or alongside ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams.
Tanya
Dewey
Muskrats build a house,
called a lodge, out of aquatic
plants, especially cattails. It can be up to eight feet
across and five feet high. A muskrat lodge looks a lot like
a Beaver lodge. Muskrats also burrow
holes in stream or pond banks. At least one entrance hole
will always be above the water line. This animal also builds
feeding platforms (places to eat) with the same types of
materials as the lodge, only much smaller. Denver Division of Animal
Control
Tiffany
Hilton-Cole The Muskrat
breeding
season starts in late Winter and ends in September. A female
muskrat may have up to five litters
per year, with up to 10 young in each litter. Baby Muskrats are born
without fur. After about two weeks, they have their fur and
begin swimming. Muskrats live in large
family groups within a territory.
If it gets too crowded, the females will drive the
youngsters away. Sometimes Muskrats will even eat their
young. Muskrats are active
throughout the day, but they are especially active when it
gets dark. They are excellent swimmers and can stay under
water for 15 minutes. Their tails are used to steer, and
they can swim forwards and backwards. They can even chew
food underwater. Muskrats eat a wide
variety of vegetable and animal foods, including: cattails,
sedges, rushes, water lilies, pondweeds, wild rice,
pickerelweed, clover, willow, acorns, maple samaras,
arrowhead, sweet flag, switchgrass, mussels, crayfish,
frogs, snails, and fish. Muskrats take their food
out to their feeding platforms. They often leave a pile of
shells called a "midden." When a Muskrat builds a
lodge, it helps a lot of animals besides itself. Lodges can
also be the home of snakes, turtles, frogs, toads, and
Canada Geese. Raccoons are also known to den in old Muskrat
holes. When Muskrats eat large
numbers of cattails (called an "eat-out"), they open up
areas of shallow water. This provides good hiding places and
nest sites for water birds, and allows other water plants to
grow. Lloyd Glenn Engles,
California Academy of Sciences
