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MUSKRATS Natural Resources and Rural Development Unit Washington, DC 20250 James E. Miller Program Leader, Fish and Wildlife USDA Extension Service MUSKRATS Natural Resources and Rural Development Unit Washington, DC 20250 Fig. 1. Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus Damage Prevention and Toxicants Identification Control Methods Zinc phosphide. The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus, Fig. 1) Anticoagulants (state registrations Exclusion is the largest microtine rodent in the only). United States. It spends its life in Riprap the inside of a pond dam face Trapping aquatic habitats and is well adapted with rock, or slightly overbuild the for swimming. Its large hind feet are dam to certain specifications. Body-gripping traps (Conibear® No. partially webbed, stiff hairs align the 110 and others). Cultural Methods and Habitat toes (Fig. 2), and its laterally flattened Modification Leghold traps, No. 1, 1 1/2, or 2. tail is almost as long as its body. The muskrat has a stocky appearance, with Eliminate aquatic vegetation as a food Where legal, homemade “stove pipe” small eyes and very short, rounded source. traps also are effective when ears. Its front feet, which are much properly used. Draw down farm ponds during the smaller than its hind feet, are adapted winter months. Shooting primarily for digging and feeding. Frightening Effective in eliminating some The overall length of adult muskrats is individuals. usually from 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 Seldom effective in controlling serious cm). Large males, however, will some- Other Methods damage problems. times be more than 30 inches (76 cm) Repellents Integrated pest management. long, 10 to 12 inches (25 to 31 cm) of which is the laterally flattened tail. The None are registered. average weight of adult muskrats is PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF WILDLIFE DAMAGE — 1994 Cooperative Extension Division Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Nebraska - Lincoln United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Animal Damage Control B-61 Great Plains Agricultural Council Wildlife Committee 3" Tail mark sometimes shows 6" Walking Hind foot Front foot Fig. 2. Muskrat tracks from 1 1/2 pounds (0.7 kg) to over 4 habitat and with little competition, habitats throughout the United States pounds (1.8 kg), with most at about 2 muskrats are very prolific. With a ges- and Canada in streams, ponds, wet- 1/2 pounds (1.1 kg). The color of the tation period of between 25 and 30 lands, swamps, drainage ditches, and belly fur is generally light gray to silver days, females in the southern part of lakes. to tan, and the remaining fur varies the range commonly produce 5 to 6 from dark tan to reddish brown, dark litters per year. brown, and black. Habitat The name muskrat, common through- Range Muskrats can live almost any place out the animal’s range, derives from where water and food are available the paired perineal musk glands found The range of the muskrat extends from year-round. This includes streams, beneath the skin at the ventral base of near the Arctic Circle in the Yukon ponds, lakes, marshes, canals, roadside the tail in both sexes. These musk and the Northwest Territories, down ditches, swamps, beaver ponds, mine glands are used during the breeding to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the pits, and other wetland areas. In shal- season. Musk is secreted on logs or Aleutians east to Labrador and down low water areas with plentiful vegeta- other defecation areas, around houses, the Atlantic coast into Georgia (Fig. 3). tion, they use plant materials to bank dens, and trails on the bank to The muskrat has been introduced construct houses, generally conical in mark the area. practically all over the world, and, like shape (Fig. 4). Elsewhere, they prefer The muskrat has an upper and a lower most exotics, has sometimes caused bank dens, and in many habitats, they pair of large, unrooted incisor teeth severe damage as well as ecological construct both bank dens and houses that are continually sharpened against problems. Muskrats often cause of vegetation. Both the houses of veg- each other and are well designed for problems with ponds, levees, and crop etation and the bank burrows or dens gnawing and cutting vegetation. It has culture, whether introduced or native. have several underwater entrances via a valvular mouth, which allows the Muskrats are found in most aquatic “runs” or trails. Muskrats often have lips to close behind the incisors and feeding houses, platforms, and cham- enables the muskrat to gnaw while bers that are somewhat smaller than submerged. With its tail used as a rud- houses used for dens. der and its partially webbed hind feet Burrowing activity is the source of the propelling it in the water, the muskrat greatest damage caused by muskrats can swim up to slightly faster than 3 in much of the United States. They miles per hour (4.8 kph). When feed- damage pond dams, floating styro- ing, the muskrat often swims back- foam marinas, docks and boathouses, ward to move to a more choice spot and lake shorelines. In states where and can stay underwater for as long as rice and aquaculture operations are big 20 minutes. Muskrat activity is pre- business, muskrats can cause extensive dominantly nocturnal and crespuscu- economic losses. They damage rice lar, but occasional activity may be culture by burrowing through or into observed during the day. levees as well as by eating substantial Muskrats in the wild have been known amounts of rice and cutting it down to live as long as 4 years, although Fig. 3. Range of the muskrat in North America. for building houses. In waterfowl most do not reach this age. In good marshes, population irruptions can cause “eat-out” where aquatic B-62 duced from October until April. Some are produced in the summer and early fall months, but not as many as in win- ter months. The period of highest pro- ductivity reported for the Great Plains is late April through early May. In the northern parts of its range, usually only 2 litters per year are produced be- Cross section of tween March and September. muskrat house showing nest Young muskrats are especially vulner- cavity and tunnel leading to water. able to predation by owls, hawks, rac- coons, mink, foxes, coyotes, and — in Fig. 4. Muskrat house the southern states — even largemouth bass and snapping turtles. The young are also occasionally killed by adult vegetation in large areas is virtually General Biology, muskrats. Adult muskrats may also be eliminated by muskrats. In some loca- Reproduction, and subject to predation, but rarely in tions, such as in the rice-growing areas Behavior numbers that would significantly alter of Arkansas, muskrats move from populations. Predation cannot be de- overwintering habitat in canals, drain- Muskrats generally have a small home pended upon to solve damage prob- age ditches, reservoirs, and streams to lems caused by muskrats. make their summer homes nearby in range but are rather territorial, and flooded rice fields. In aquaculture during breeding seasons some dispers- Muskrats are hosts to large numbers of reservoirs, damage is primarily to als are common. The apparent intent endo- and ectoparasites and serve as levees or pond banks, caused by bur- of those leaving their range is to estab- carriers for a number of diseases, rowing. lish new breeding territories. Dispersal including tularemia, hemorrhagic dis- of males, along with young that are eases, leptospirosis, ringworm disease, Food Habits just reaching sexual maturity, seems to and pseudotuberculosis. Most com- begin in the spring. Dispersal is also mon ectoparasites are mites and ticks. Muskrats are primarily herbivores. associated with population densities Endoparasites are predominantly They will eat almost any aquatic vege- and population cycles. These popula- trematodes, nematodes, and cestodes. tation as well as some field crops tion cycles vary from 5 years in some grown adjacent to suitable habitat. parts of North America to 10 years in Damage and Damage Some of the preferred natural foods others. Population levels can be Identification include cattail, pickerelweed, bulrush, impacted by food availability and smartweed, duck potato, horsetail, accessibility. Damage caused by muskrats is prima- water lily, sedges, young willow Both male and female muskrats rily due to their burrowing activity. regeneration, and other aquatics. become more aggressive during the Burrowing may not be readily evident Crops that are occasionally damaged breeding season to defend their territo- until serious damage has occurred. include corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ries. Copulation usually takes place One way to observe early burrowing grain sorghum, and sugarcane. Rice while submerged. The young generally in farm ponds or reservoirs is to walk grown as a flooded crop is a common are born between 25 and 30 days later along the edge of the dam or shore- muskrat food. It is not uncommon, in a house or bank den, where they are lines when the water is clear and look however, to see muskrats subsisting cared for chiefly by the female. In the for “runs” or trails from just below the primarily on upland vegetation such southern states, some females may normal water surface to as deep as 3 as bermuda grass, clover, johnson- have as many as 6 litters per year. Lit- feet (91 cm). If no burrow entrances grass, and orchard grass where ters may contain as many as 15, but are observed, look for droppings along planted or growing on or around farm generally average between 4 and 8 the bank or on logs or structures a pond dams. young. It has been reported that 2 to 3 muskrat can easily climb upon. If the Although primarily herbivores, musk- litters per female per year is average in pond can be drawn down from 1 1/2 rats will also feed on crayfish, mussels, the Great Plains.
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