Muskrat Habitat

After finding a real muskrat at the park, I went back the next week to see if I could find him again.  No such luck.  But, I did find tracks, and a den!

That long line intermingled with the tracks, shown in these pictures, is made by the critter's long, thin tail as it drags on the snow behind him.

And here is his house, nestled on the front edge of the phragmites australis (the common reeds) on the pond. Some muskrat lodges have underwater entrances, but this one probably does not.

The muskrat can close his ears when swimming, and has partially webbed hind feet.  It likes to eat cattails and other marsh vegetation, but will also eat some small animals such as frogs.  They were, of course, once killed in great numbers for their fur.