Muskrat
Last Review/Updated: May 31, 2002
Ondatra zibethicus
The muskrat is the largest member of the rat and mouse family (Cricetidae) in North America. Adults weigh about 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). Like the beaver, the muskrat is adapted to an aquatic way of life, and is an important and valuable furbearer. Its dense, waterproof, chestnut to dark-brown fur has been the mainstay of many trapline incomes. Unlike the beaver, the tail of the muskrat is narrow and flattened laterally. It is used as a rudder when the muskrat is swimming. The muskrat has short legs, and small forefeet that are used for grasping objects, and large hind feet that are partially webbed and used for propelling the animal through the water.
Muskrats spend much of their life in water. They live in family groups, each group occupying a portion of a pond containing a house, feeding areas, and canals through cattails and other pond vegetation. Each family defends its portion of the pond from other muskrats.
Mating may occur several times during the period from March to September. Litters of 3 to 7 kits are born about a month after mating. Kits are weaned in about a month and are expelled from the home lodge to fend for themselves. Young are able to breed the following year.
Muskrats eat pond weeds and emergent vegetation. They also eat a variety of animals, including freshwater mussels, frogs, salamanders and small fish. Muskrats are found in all life zones in the province except the alpine.
