Description: Muskrats are commonly mistaken for Beavers when swimming in the marshes of Benton Lake. Credit: Steve Dawes / USFWS. Date: 3 August 2012, 09:21. Source: Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). Author: USFWS Mountain-Prairie.
Description: Marsh wrens squabble amongst themselves as a plump muskrat grooms himself. Muskrats make underwater trails through marshes that they continue to use through the winter. Muskrats also build feeding platforms in wetlands. They feed on aquatic vegetation like cattails and bulrush. They help maintain open areas in marshes, which helps to provide habitat for aquatic birds. Plant materials make up about 95% of their diets, but they also eat small animals, such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, and fish. K. Theule/ USFWS. Date: 15 September 2015, 14:08. Source: Muskrat Grooming. Author: USFWS Mountain-Prairie.
Summary.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;background-color:#f8f9fa;padding:5px;font-size:95%;border-spacing:2px;box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;width:100%}.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr{vertical-align:top}.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>th,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>th{padding:4px}.mw-parser-output.fileinfo-paramfield{background:#ccf;text-align:right;padding-right:0.4em;width:15%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+div.commons-file-information-table>table{border-top:0;padding-top:0;margin-top:-8px}@media only screen and (max-width:719px){.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table.fileinfotpl-type-information{border-spacing:0;padding:0;word-break:break-word;width:100%!important}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody{display:block}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>th,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>th{padding:0.2em 0.4em;text-align:left;text-align:start}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+div.commons-file-information-table>table{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output.fileinfo-paramfield{box-sizing:border-box;flex:1 0 100%;width:100%}} Description: A muskrat swimming along in a Seney Refuge Pool. Muskrats are commonly mistaken as beavers. An easy way of identifying is a muskrat will swim with its tail moving from side to side. June 2011 Photo Credit: Mandy Salminen USFWS. Date: 25 May 2011, 19:27. Source: Seney National Wildlife Refuge Uploaded by AlbertHerring. Author: Seney Natural History Association.
Description: Русский: Выставка «Преодоление: Русская Церковь и Советская власть» в Государственном центральном музее современной истории России в Москве, 2012. Date: 2012. Source: Own work. Author: Shakko.
Description: English: Exhibit in the Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Japanisches Palais, Dresden, Germany. Photography was permitted in the museum without restriction. Date: 8 December 2013, 10:06:45. Source: Own work. Author: Daderot.
There's plenty more nibbling action where this came from.Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusBombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeKent County, Delaware, USAOlympus OM-D E-M1 Mark IIOlympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Lens M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-1421 June 2022#1stPixBHNWRPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
2011-10-14 Lower Austria, district Wien-Umgebung - Fischa river alluvial forest (160 msm Quadrant 7965/1).The red stems in the foreground belong to Impatiens glandulifera, which is very common (and invasive) in this habitat - over long stretches it is the dominant plant of Fischa alluvial forest undergrowth.Some remarks about the animal, the muskrat: it is native to Northern America and has been introduced around 1900 (1905 in Bohemia, says German Wikipedia) for its fur - it was hunted then, but isn't really anymore (its fur is in low demand).The muskrat now has occupied a huge area in Europe, and it is considered an invasive and problematic species; it is no less shy than its very distant cousins, our ordinary rats: it let me get close to around half a metre here and even waited for minutes then before finally - and very slowly! - it took flight.
Pound for pound, strand for strand, trip for trip, you can't argue with the Muskrat's work ethic. Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusShearness PoolBombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeKent County, Delaware, USAOlympus OM-D E-M1 Mark IIOlympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Lens M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14f/9 1/650 ISO 250 560mm25 June 2022#1stPixBHNWRPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
I imagine these Muskrats are decorating their den, or is it a lodge?Whatever you call it, they are hard at work harvesting these reeds. Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusShearness PoolBombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeKent County, Delaware, USAOlympus OM-D E-M1 Mark IIOlympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Lens M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14f/9 1/650 ISO 250 560mm25 June 2022#1stPixBHNWRPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
What I originally thought was a snake slipping across the Shearness Pool, turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Once I got out and got a little closer, I spotted this busy not-a-beaver on the edge, right outside it's den. Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusBombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeKent County, Delaware, USAOlympus OM-D E-M1 Mark IIOlympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Lens M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-1421 June 2022#1stPixBHNWRPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
I wonder if this is Muskrat Susie, or Muskrat Sam?Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusShearness PoolBombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeKent County, Delaware, USAOlympus OM-D E-M1 Mark IIOlympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Lens M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-1421 June 2022#1stPixBHNWRPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
Back and forth, harvesting grass to take back to the den all day can be tiring.Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusShearness PoolBombay Hook National Wildlife RefugeKent County, Delaware, USAOlympus OM-D E-M1 Mark IIOlympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS Lens M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14In-Camera Digitial Teleconverter: Onf/9 1/1500 ISO 250 560mm25 June 2022#1stPixBHNWRPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
Muskrats dine on plants and also eat small fish, frogs, snails, clams, and mussels.Muskrat Ondatra zibethicusRed Clay CreekAshland Nature CenterDelaware Nature SocietyNew Castle County, Delaware USASony a7 IV (ILCE-7M4)Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS LensSony 1.4x Teleconverter4 May 2023#1stPixAshlandNatureCenterPhil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix InstagramPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: ObservationsPhil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
