What Makes This Critter Guard His Musk?

If you are a Wizard of Oz fan and recall the soliloquy of the Cowardly Lion you already know the answer to the title of this blog post – Courage!  

On Friday Blonde Dog and I were out for a walk and we figured we’d take advantage of the frozen conditions around the pond to check on one of our resident aquatic residents.  

Meet Ondatra zibethicus – The Muskrat – aptly named as a consequence of its long naked tail and musky odor (quite noticeable in the male during the breeding season).   

The muskrat is ideally-suited to living in a watery environment and sports a waterproof fur coat, webbed feet and a tail that can be used like a rudder.  This chunky rodent can stay submerged for up to fifteen minutes before having to surface for air.  

Since the spring of 2012 muskrats have called our large pond out back between the house and Silver Creek home.  They built and enlarged their original home and constructed a second one several years ago.  By the close of 2020 the second lodge had disappeared into the depths of the pond.  

Not all muskrats build lodges – with some choosing to dig a burrow in a stream bank or lake shore.  Our rats are builders (as near as I can tell) and this is their lodge constructed of mud and cut vegetation.  The outer roof extends more than 30 inches above the surface of the ice.  

Muskrat lodges have one to two underwater entrances and may have a second chamber for different occupants.   They’re fastidious about their den and will not use it as a bathroom.  

The muskrat does not hibernate and is active year-round.  Living up to ten years in age breeding begins in April and ends with the return of fall weather.  Around half a dozen young are born two to three times a year and the little ones can swim at two weeks of age.      

 

Unlike the beaver - who occupies only one lodge per lake or stream - the muskrat may build multiple abodes.  

However, overcrowding will cause the critter to disperse and to find a new home.