Muskrat
Ondatra zibethicus · Mammal
A large water rat of North America, brought to Europe and Asia for its fur, that lives in family groups in marshes, rivers, lakes and ponds. It is busiest from afternoon to just after dusk, and in winter keeps swimming under the ice to graze water plants, breathing in small lodges of mud and reeds. Its fur was an important trade; its meat is eaten, Detroit Catholics even allowing it on Lenten Fridays, and its burrows ruin dikes.
- Danger
- Harmless
- How it is met
- In families, at dawn and dusk
- Size
- Small
- In winter
- Active in winter
Where it lives
Feeds on
Broadleaf Arrowhead, Water Caltrop
Gives
Sources
- Muskrat. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2026.
- Rat musqué. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 2026.
- Toni Lynn Newell, Ondatra zibethicus (muskrat). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2000.
Open it in Biomes — MGS Toolbox