MuskratOndatra zibethicusWo und wann du sie sehen kannst

The muskrat is a semiaquatic rodent native to North America. It belongs to the same rodent subfamily as voles and lemmings, rather than being a true rat. Its dense fur, strong swimming ability and distinctive tail suit life along freshwater margins. Muskrats occur in the Columbia and Mississippi river systems and have also become established in France, including the Saône and Seine basins, following introductions to Europe. Their feeding and burrowing can reshape wetland vegetation and banks, and they are considered invasive in Europe.

Size

Body length about 25–35 cm, with a tail about 20–28 cm long.

Weight

Usually 0.6–2 kg.

Lifespan

Typically 3–4 years in the wild, although many die younger.

Status

Least Concern (IUCN).

Muskrats are usually most active around dusk, at night and near dawn, but they sometimes appear during daylight. They swim using their hind feet for propulsion and their flattened tail to help steer. When alarmed, they can dive and travel underwater to cover or a submerged entrance. Depending on local conditions, they dig bank burrows or build lodges from vegetation and mud. They also create feeding platforms where they can handle food close to the water. Breeding animals defend territories, while family groups may share shelters. Muskrats remain active throughout winter and, where water freezes, can move beneath the ice between shelter and feeding areas.

• Its name refers to the musky scent used in chemical communication.
• Its hind feet are partly webbed and fringed with stiff hairs that aid swimming.
• Its lips can close behind its incisors, helping it gnaw underwater without taking water into its mouth.
• Muskrats do not hibernate, even in wetlands that freeze over.

Wildlife opportunities depend on the river reach, water levels and species. River-specific viewing months have not been confirmed; general species seasons are not a local sighting forecast.

Muskrats inhabit marshes, ponds, lakes, slow-moving streams and sheltered river margins. They favor shallow water with abundant emergent plants, such as cattails, reeds and sedges. Along the Columbia and Mississippi, suitable habitat includes backwaters, sloughs and floodplain wetlands rather than exposed, fast-flowing channels. In the Saône and Seine basins, they also use vegetated banks, canals and associated wetlands. Banks suitable for burrowing or plant material suitable for lodge building provide important shelter.

Muskrats eat mainly aquatic and wetland plants, including shoots, leaves, stems, roots and rhizomes. Cattails, sedges and other locally abundant plants can form much of their diet. They also eat animal food, including freshwater mussels, snails and other small aquatic animals. The balance varies with habitat and seasonal food availability.

Common name

Muskrat

Scientific name

Ondatra zibethicus

Animal group

Mammals

Size

Body length about 25–35 cm, with a tail about 20–28 cm long.

Weight

Usually 0.6–2 kg.

Lifespan

Typically 3–4 years in the wild, although many die younger.

Status

Least Concern (IUCN).

Identification

Look for a compact brown rodent with a blunt muzzle, small eyes and short ears that barely project above its fur. Its long, scaly tail is flattened from side to side, unlike a beaver's broad, paddle-shaped tail or a nutria's rounded tail. A swimming muskrat often shows its head and part of its back above the surface, sometimes with the tail visible behind. It is much smaller than an adult beaver and generally smaller than an adult nutria, though size alone is unreliable at a distance.