What Does a Muskrat Look Like?
Muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents with glossy brown fur. They weigh 2 to 4 pounds and are about 2 feet long, including the tail. Muskrats are strong swimmers with webbed feet and a scaly tail that acts as a rudder. Muskrats are sometimes confused with beavers, but muskrats are much smaller and don’t have large, flat tails like beavers. Muskrats have small eyes and ears, short front legs with claws for digging, and longer hind legs with partially webbed feet to aid in swimming.
What are the Signs of a Muskrat in Your Pond?
Muskrats prefer to live near water and rely on aquatic plants for food. They have no interest in human houses. Muskrats burrow into pond and lake shorelines. The entrance to their den is five to six inches in diameter and is about six inches below the water’s surface. The most common signs of a muskrat in your pond are floating vegetation, muddy water, collapsed banks, and pellet-sized droppings on rocks along the shoreline.
Professional Muskrat Removal in Milwaukee, WI
If you notice muskrats in your pond or stream, it is important to take immediate action. Muskrats can cause significant property damage when they burrow into shorelines, compromising their structural integrity. Advanced Wildlife and Pest Control specializes in muskrat trapping and removal in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our certified wildlife removal specialists have the tools and knowledge to trap and remove nuisance muskrats from your property.
Muskrat Damage & Diseases
Muskrats generally do not harm people, but they may bite or scratch if they feel threatened. They can carry tularemia, a disease that can be transmitted to humans through contaminated water, leading to symptoms such as fever, chills, headaches, muscle pain, and diarrhea. Their burrowing habits are a major concern, as they can cause damage to banks, waterways, and retaining walls. This can result in erosion, leading to flooding and property damage.
Muskrat Prevention
Exclusions and habitat modifications can be implemented to discourage muskrats from living in certain areas. Stone riprap, wire mesh, and other barriers can be used to prevent muskrats from burrowing into pond embankments. Trimming overgrown vegetation will also help discourage muskrats from using your pond to obtain food.
Muskrat FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What do muskrats eat?
Muskrats primarily eat aquatic plants like cattails, lilies, and rushes. Muskrats may also occasionally eat mussels, frogs, salamanders, crayfish, small fish, and snails.
Where do muskrats live?
Muskrats inhabit ponds, lakes, marshes, slow-moving streams, and lakes with still, shallow waters. They burrow into the banks of ponds or streams or form dome-shaped lodges out of leaves, sticks, and mud. Lodges can be up to eight feet wide and five feet high. Muskrats can also be found in drainage ditches and retention ponds.
When do muskrats have babies?
Muskrats mate from March to September. After a gestation period of about one month, female muskrats give birth to three to six young per litter. Muskrats have two or three litters per year. Young are capable of swimming at three weeks of age and will be weaned by the time they are a month old.
How long do muskrats live?
Muskrats have a short lifespan. Most do not make it through their first winter. Flooding is a major cause of death among young muskrats. Mink, foxes, raccoons, coyotes, hawks, owls, snakes, and snapping turtles prey upon muskrats.
What does muskrat poop look like?
Muskrat droppings are black to dark green, cylindrical, and about half of an inch long. Muskrats use latrine areas along shorelines to defecate, such as stumps, logs, or rocks along the water.
What do muskrat tracks look like?
Muskrat tracks are small with long, finger-like toes. They have five toes on each foot, but the front inner toe is so small that it does not usually appear in the front prints. Footprints are about 2 to 3 inches long. There is often a visible tail mark in between the footprints. Muskrat tracks are often found in mud or sand along shorelines near water.
Illustration by Dan Goodman