Last night’s beaver visit featured a new display by one of our larger muskrats. We might call it an “aggressive dive”. He would approach very close and then hurl his furry body into the water making as much noise as possible. I’m guessing that he was thinking “so what you can slap your tail? I can slap my whole body!”
We are starting to see more of a muskrat population return, which isn’t surprising. Did you know muskrats are such prodigious breeders they can produce 20 off spring a year? Check out this photo of baby muskrats in a nest of reeds.
In addition to sharing territory with their beaver neighbors, muskrats share some characteristics as well. They are great swimmers and divers and can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes. While their appetite is more egalitarian than the beavers, they are happy to eat willow and cattail. As we head into the winter months we will likely see more of the muskrats and less of the beavers, leading to the common confusion between the two.
This video guide to telling them apart was one my first efforts and the first time I really saw how fun making a video could be.
[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=fEsaXZoXnCw]
