The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is a medium-sized semiaquaticrodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitats. It has important effects on the ecology of wetlands,[2] and is a resource of food and fur for humans.
Adult muskrats weigh 0.6–2kg (1+1⁄4–4+1⁄2lb), with a body length (excluding the tail) of 20–35cm (8–14in). They are covered with short, thick fur of medium to dark brown color. Their long tails, covered with scales rather than hair, are laterally compressed and generate a small amount of thrust, with their webbed hind feet being the main means of propulsion,[3] and the unique tail mainly important in directional stability. Muskrats spend most of their time in the water and can swim under water for 12 to 17 minutes. They live in families, consisting of a male and female pair and their young. To protect themselves from the cold and from predators, they build nests that are often burrowed into the bank with an underwater entrance. Muskrats feed mostly on cattail and other aquatic vegetation but also eat small animals.
Ondatra zibethicus is the only extant species in the genusOndatra. It is the largest species in the subfamily Arvicolinae, which includes 142 other species of rodents, mostly voles and lemmings. Muskrats are referred to as "rats" in a general sense because they are medium-sized rodents with an adaptable lifestyle and an omnivorous diet. They are not, however, members of the genus Rattus. They are not closely related to beavers, with which they share habitat and general appearance.
Etymology
The muskrat's name probably comes from a word of Algonquian (possibly Powhatan[4]) origin, muscascus (literally "it is red", so called for its colorings), or from the Abenaki native word mòskwas, as seen in the archaic English name for the animal, musquash. Because of the association with the "musky" odor, which the muskrat uses to mark its territory, and its flattened tail, the name became altered to musk-beaver;[5] later it became "muskrat" due to its resemblance to rats.[6][7][8]
Similarly, its specific namezibethicus means "musky", being the adjective of zibethus "civet musk; civet".[9][10] The genus name comes from the Huron word for the animal, ondathra,[11] and entered Neo-Latin as Ondatra via French.[12]
Description
Muskrat skeletonMuskrat skull
An adult muskrat is about 40–70cm (16–28in) long, half of that length being the tail, and weighs 0.6–2kg (1+1⁄4–4+1⁄2lb).[13] That is about four times the weight of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), though an adult muskrat is only slightly longer. It is almost certainly[clarification needed] the largest and heaviest member of the diverse family Cricetidae, which includes all voles, lemmings, and most mice native to the Americas, and hamsters in Eurasia. The muskrat is much smaller than a beaver (Castor canadensis), with which they often share habitat.[6][7]
Muskrats are covered with short, thick fur, which is medium to dark brown or black in color, with the belly a bit lighter (countershaded); as the animal ages, it turns partly gray. The fur has two layers, which provides protection from cold water. They have long tails covered with scales rather than hair. To aid in swimming, their tails are slightly flattened vertically,[14] a shape that is unique to them.[15] When they walk on land, their tails drag on the ground, which makes their tracks easy to recognize.[6][7]
Muskrats spend most of their time in water and are well suited to their semiaquatic life. They can swim underwater for 12 to 17 minutes. Their bodies, like those of seals and whales, are less sensitive to the buildup of carbon dioxide than those of most other mammals. They can close off their ears to keep water out. Their hind feet are webbed and are their main means of propulsion. Their tail functions as a rudder, controlling the direction they swim.[16]
Distribution and ecology
A muskrat eating a plant, showing the long claws used for digging burrows
Muskrats are found over most of Canada and the United States and a small part of northern Mexico. They were introduced to Europe in the beginning of the 20th century and have become an invasive species in northwestern Europe. They mostly inhabit wetlands, areas in or near saline and freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes, or ponds. They are not found in Florida, where the round-tailed muskrat, or Florida water rat (Neofiber alleni), fills their ecological niche.[6]
Their populations naturally cycle; in areas where they become abundant, they are capable of removing much of the vegetation in wetlands.[17] They are thought to play a major role in determining the vegetation of prairie wetlands in particular.[18] They also selectively remove preferred plant species, thereby changing the abundance of plant species in many kinds of wetlands.[2] Species commonly eaten include cattail and yellow water lily. Alligators are thought to be an important natural predator, and the absence of muskrats from Florida may in part be the result of alligator predation.[19]
While much wetland habitat has been eliminated due to human activity, new muskrat habitat has been created by the construction of canals or irrigation channels (e.g., acequias), and the muskrat remains common and widespread. They are able to live alongside streams which contain the sulfurous water that drains away from coal mines. Fish and frogs perish in such streams, yet muskrats may thrive and occupy the wetlands. Muskrats also benefit from human persecution of some of their predators.[7]
In Europe, the muskrat has been included in the list of invasive alien species of Union concern (the Union list) since August 2, 2017.[23] This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.[24].Muskrats were introduced to Europe in the early 20th century for fur farming. In many European countries, muskrats have become problematic, damaging flood control system, agricultural crops, and river banks with burrowing activities[25].Their presence is particularly concerning in areas with delicate ecosystems, where they can outcompete or displace native species. Several European countries have implemented control measures and eradication programs to manage muskrat populations and mitigate their impact.[26]
Behavior
A muskrat house
Muskrats normally live in families consisting of a male and female and their young. During the spring, they often fight with other muskrats over territory and potential mates. Many are injured or killed in these fights. Muskrat families build nests to protect themselves and their young from cold and predators. In streams, ponds, or lakes, muskrats burrow into the bank with an underwater entrance. These entrances are 15–20cm (6–8in) wide. In marshes, push-ups are constructed from vegetation and mud. These push-ups are up to 90cm (3ft) in height. In snowy areas, they keep the openings to their push-ups closed by plugging them with vegetation, which they replace every day. Some muskrat push-ups are swept away in spring floods and have to be replaced each year. Muskrats also build feeding platforms, which are constructed in the water from cut pieces of vegetation supported by a branch structure. They help maintain open areas in marshes, which helps to provide habitat for aquatic birds.[7][27]
Muskrats are most active at night or near dawn and dusk. They feed on cattail and other aquatic vegetation. They do not store food for the winter, but sometimes eat the insides of their push-ups. While they may appear to steal food beavers have stored, more seemingly cooperative partnerships with beavers exist, as featured in the BBCDavid Attenborough wildlife documentary The Life of Mammals.[28] Plant materials compose about 95% of their diets, but they also eat small animals, such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, fish, and small turtles.[6][7] Muskrats follow trails they make in swamps and ponds. When the water freezes, they continue to follow their trails under the ice.
Muskrats provide an important food resource for many other animals, including mink, foxes, cougars, coyotes, wolves, lynx, bobcats, raccoons, bears, wolverines, eagles, snakes, alligators, bull sharks, large owls, and hawks. Otters, snapping turtles, herons, bullfrogs, large fish such as pike and largemouth bass, and predatory land reptiles such as monitor lizards prey on baby muskrats. Caribou, moose, and elk sometimes feed on the vegetation which makes up muskrat push-ups during the winter when other food is scarce for them.[29] In their introduced range in the former Soviet Union, the muskrat's greatest predator is the golden jackal. They can be completely eradicated in shallow water bodies, and during the winter of 1948–49 in the Amu Darya (river in central Asia), muskrats constituted 12.3% of jackal faeces contents, and 71% of muskrat houses were destroyed by jackals, 16% of which froze and became unsuitable for muskrat occupation. Jackals also harm the muskrat industry by eating muskrats caught in traps or taking skins left out to dry.[30]
Muskrats, like most rodents, are prolific breeders. Females can have two or three litters a year of six to eight young each. The babies are born small and hairless and weigh only about 22g (340gr). In southern environments, young muskrats mature in six months, while in colder northern environments, it takes about a year. Muskrat populations appear to go through a regular pattern of rise and dramatic decline spread over a six- to 10-year period. Some other rodents, including famously the muskrat's close relatives the lemmings, go through the same type of population changes.
In human history
Native Americans have long considered the muskrat to be an important animal. Some predict winter snowfall levels by observing the size and timing of muskrat lodge construction.[31]
In several Native American creation myths, the muskrat dives to the bottom of the primordial sea to bring up the mud from which the earth is created, after other animals have failed in the task.[32]
Muskrats have sometimes been a food resource for North Americans.[33] In the southeastern portion of Michigan, a longstanding dispensation allows Catholics to consume muskrat as their Friday penance, on Ash Wednesday, and on Lenten Fridays (when the eating of flesh, except for fish, is prohibited); this tradition dates back to at least the early 19th century.[34] In 2019, it was reported that a series of muskrat dinners were held during Lent in the areas along the Detroit River, with up to 900 muskrats being consumed at a single dinner. The preparation involved the removal of the musk glands and the gutting and cleaning of the carcass, before the meat was parboiled for four hours with onion and garlic and finally fried.[35]
Muskrat fur is warm, becoming prime at the beginning of December in northern North America. In the early 20th century, the trapping of the animal for its fur became an important industry there. During that era, the fur was specially trimmed and dyed to be sold widely in the US as "Hudson seal" fur.[36] Muskrats were introduced at that time to Europe as a fur resource, and spread throughout northern Europe and Asia.
In some European countries, such as Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, the muskrat is considered an invasive pest, as its burrowing damages the dikes and levees on which these low-lying countries depend for protection from flooding. In those countries, it is trapped, poisoned, and hunted to attempt to keep the population down. Muskrats also eat corn and other farm and garden crops growing near water bodies.[7]
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver. Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras, weighing up to 50 kg (110 lb). They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet, and tails that are flat and scaly. The two species differ in skull and tail shape and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges.
The nutria or coypu is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent from South America. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, Myocastor is now included within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats. The nutria lives in burrows alongside stretches of water and feeds on river plant stems. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe and Asia, primarily by fur farmers. Although it is still hunted and trapped for its fur in some regions, its destructive burrowing and feeding habits often bring it into conflict with humans, and it is considered an invasive species in the United States. Nutria also transmit various diseases to humans and animals, mainly through water contamination.
The European water vole or northern water vole, is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair.
The Tantramar Marshes, also known as the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area, is a tidal saltmarsh around the Bay of Fundy on the Isthmus of Chignecto. The area borders between Route 940, Route 16 and Route 2 near Sackville, New Brunswick. The government of Canada proposed the boundaries of the Tantramar Marshes in 1966 and was declared a National Wildlife Area in 1978.
Mer Bleue Bog is a 33.43 km2 (12.91 sq mi) protected area in Gloucester, Ontario, an eastern suburb of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Its main feature is a sphagnum bog that is situated in an ancient channel of the Ottawa River and is a remarkable boreal-like ecosystem normally not found this far south. Stunted black spruce, tamarack, bog rosemary, blueberry, and cottongrass are some of the unusual species that have adapted to the acidic waters of the bog.
The North American beaver is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver. It is native to North America and has been introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe. The North American beaver is one of the official national wildlife of Canada symbols and is the official state mammal of Oregon and New York. North American beavers are widespread across the continental United States, Canada, southern Alaska, and some parts of northern Mexico.
The North American river otter, also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that lives only on the North American continent, along its waterways and coasts. An adult North American river otter can weigh between 5.0 and 14 kg. The river otter is protected and insulated by a thick, water-repellent coat of fur.
The rakali, also known as the rabe, the "Australian Otter" or water-rat, is an Australian native rodent first scientifically described in 1804. Adoption of the Aboriginal name rakali is intended to foster a positive public attitude by Environment Australia.
The mountain beaver is a North American rodent. It is the only living member of its genus, Aplodontia, and family, Aplodontiidae. It should not be confused with true North American and Eurasian beavers, to which it is not closely related; the mountain beaver is instead more closely related to squirrels, although its less-efficient renal system was thought to indicate greater relative antiquity for the species. There are seven subspecies of mountain beavers, six of which are found in California and three of which are endemic to the state.
The Australian swamp rat, also known as the eastern swamp rat, is a species of rat native to the coasts of southern and eastern Australia.
The Siberian weasel or kolonok, is a medium-sized weasel native to Asia, where it is widely distributed and inhabits various forest habitats and open areas. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Aquatic and semiaquatic mammals are a diverse group of mammals that dwell partly or entirely in bodies of water. They include the various marine mammals who dwell in oceans, as well as various freshwater species, such as the European otter. They are not a taxon and are not unified by any distinct biological grouping, but rather their dependence on and integral relation to aquatic ecosystems. The level of dependence on aquatic life varies greatly among species. Among freshwater taxa, the Amazonian manatee and river dolphins are completely aquatic and fully dependent on aquatic ecosystems. Semiaquatic freshwater taxa include the Baikal seal, which feeds underwater but rests, molts, and breeds on land; and the capybara and hippopotamus which are able to venture in and out of water in search of food.
The mountain weasel, also known as the pale weasel, Altai weasel or solongoi, primarily lives in high-altitude environments, as well as rocky tundra and grassy woodlands. This weasel rests in rock crevices, tree trunks, and abandoned burrows of other animals or the animals it previously hunted. The home range size of this animal is currently unknown. Geographical distribution for this species lies in parts of Asia from Kazakhstan, Tibet, and the Himalayas to Mongolia, northeastern China, and southern Siberia. The most common area for this species, however, is Ladakh, India. The conservation status, according to the IUCN, is near threatened because it is considered to be in significant decline and requires monitoring mainly because of habitat and resource loss.
The fauna of the United States of America is all the animals living in the Continental United States and its surrounding seas and islands, the Hawaiian Archipelago, Alaska in the Arctic, and several island-territories in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. The U.S. has many endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. With most of the North American continent, the U.S. lies in the Nearctic, Neotropic, and Oceanic faunistic realms, and shares a great deal of its flora and fauna with the rest of the American supercontinent.
Ondatrini is a tribe of semiaquatic rodents in the family Arvicolinae. They are known as muskrats. They are related to voles and lemmings.
The round-tailed muskrat is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, sometimes called the Florida water rat. The species is monotypic in the genus Neofiber. It is found only in the southeastern United States, where its natural habitat is swamps.
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Typha × glauca is a hybrid species of plant originating as a cross between T. angustifolia and T. latifolia. It shows invasive behavior in the Midwestern United States
↑ Lemery, Nicolas (1759). Dictionnaire universel des drogues simples (in French). Paris: L.-Ch. d'Houry. p.942. Zibethum [...], en français, civette, est une matière liquid [...] d'une odeur forte & désagréable. [Zibethum, in French, civette, is a liquid [...] with a strong and unpleasant odour.]
↑ "Wildlife Directory: Muskrat". Living with Wildlife in Illinois. University of Illinois Extension. Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
↑ Fish, Frank E. (1982). "Function of the compressed tail of surface swimming muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus)". Journal of Mammalogy. 63 (4): 591–597. doi:10.2307/1380263. JSTOR1380263.
↑ O'Neil, Ted (1949). The Muskrat in the Louisiana Coastal Marshes: A Study of the Ecological, Geological, Biological, Tidal, and Climatic Factors Governing the Production and Management of the Muskrat Industry in Louisiana. New Orleans, Louisiana: Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries. LCCN50063347.[pageneeded]
↑ Keddy, Paul A.; Gough, Laura; Nyman, J. Andy; McFalls, Tiffany; Carter, Jacoby; Siegrist, Jack (2009). "Alligator Hunters, Pelt Traders, and Runaway Consumption of Gulf Coast Marshes: A Trophic Cascade Perspective on Coastal Wetland Losses". In Silliman, Brian R.; Grosholz, Edwin D.; Bertness, Mark D. (eds.). Human Impacts on Salt Marshes: A Global Perspective. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp.115–133. ISBN978-0-520-25892-1. LCCN2008048366.
↑ Heptner, V. G.; Naumov, N. P., eds. (1998). Mammals of the Soviet Union. Vol.II Part 1a, Sirenia and Carnivora (Sea Cows, Wolves and Bears). Enfield, New Hampshire: Science Publishers. ISBN1-886106-81-9.[pageneeded]
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