Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Muskrats remain active throughout the year, even when winter closes like a giant vise on pond and
marsh. Mostly they remain under the ice, foraging for a variety of foods while using their living quar-
ters and any pushups they may have built as feeding spots. Several muskrats frequently share the same
winter quarters, particularly in their domed houses of mud and reeds. Evidently this communal ar-
rangement serves two important purposes: first, it keeps the interior of the house relatively warm; and,
second, the warmth helps to keep the water from freezing in the interior entrances to their underwater
exits.
Although muskrats normally don't attempt forays above the ice, they may sally forth if they run short
of edibles, as sometimes happens in small wetland areas. Then they'll leave the water and travel over-
land, even in the dead of winter, to seek another food source. Also, the need to find a mate may cause
lone muskrats to leave their winter quarters in late February or March and set out on a cross-country
journey. At such times they may turn up in odd places, such as garages, or may be killed while crossing
highways.
Heidi, our black Labrador retriever, and I once had a painful adventure with one of these winter wan-
derers. I happened to glance idly out the window one afternoon when the snow lay deep on the field
adjoining the house. A distant movement caught my eye, and I spied a brown object moving in our dir-
ection. As it drew closer, the object soon resolved itself into a muskrat.
Intrigued by such an incongruous sight, I took Heidi and went outdoors for a closer look. The
muskrat continued to move steadily in our direction until it was perhaps twenty feet away. Then,
without warning, it accelerated and charged straight at us at top speed.
Astounded by this turn of events, I failed to react in time. Heidi, curious about this strange creature,
lowered her head, and the onrushing muskrat bit the unfortunate dog savagely on the end of the nose!
Blood, which always looks far worse on snow, seemed to fly everywhere, while the muskrat turned and
fled in the direction it had come from. Because I had to attend to Heidi's wounded nose, we never did
learn what became of the muskrat.
What was a muskrat doing at that time of year, exposing itself to danger in open, snow-covered
fields? There was no rabies in Vermont at the time, so any suspicion of a rabid animal can be eliminated.
No doubt the peripatetic muskrat had either been forced to seek a new food supply or was heeding the
siren call of the mating season. At any rate, it provided a thoroughly memorable experience, albeit a
most unpleasant one for the unhappy Heidi!
As befits their semiaquatic status, muskrats have a full complement of adaptations to equip them
for life in the water. Like beavers, muskrats are notable divers without benefit of outsized lungs. With
the same sort of adaptations possessed by beavers, they can easily spend ten minutes underwater, and
longer dives of up to fifteen minutes are by no means unknown. One biologist saw a muskrat dive and
remain submerged for an astounding seventeen minutes, come to the surface for just three seconds, and
then dive for another ten minutes!
The muskrat has other useful adaptations as well. Its hind feet are partially webbed to provide ef-
ficient paddles for easy movement in the water, while its long tail acts as a rudder. On occasion, this
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