Details
Ondatra zibethicus
Muskrat is a semiaquatic rodent native to North America that builds grass-and-mud lodges. Its digging and plant cutting can reshape marshes and affect levees in introduced areas.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives in marshes, ponds, slow rivers, canals, and other freshwater wetlands, with introduced populations in Europe and Asia. Main habitat types in this guide are freshwater, grassland, urban.
Typical length 40-70 cm, weight 600 g-2 kg. A laterally flattened tail and dense brown waterproof fur suit it to swimming.
It is most active around dawn and dusk and often found in loose groups. It uses grass lodges or bank burrows and swims along wetland edges.
It is omnivorous. Aquatic leaves, stems, and roots dominate, with mollusks or small animals taken when available.
It can breed more than once in warm seasons, raising litters inside sheltered nests.
Although still widespread in places, it remains sensitive to habitat change. Its digging and plant cutting can reshape marshes and affect levees in introduced areas.
