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Ondatra zibethicus

Muskrat

Habitus (CC BY-SA 3.0) Cephas

Short Description

The muskrat has a stocky rat-like body. Its head is rather pointed. Its fur is generally dark-brown to cream. Its tail is almost hairless and laterally flattened. Its ears are hidden in the fur. Its whiskers are dark. Its hind feet are fringed with bristles to assist with swimming. When swimming, head, nape and back are visible out of the water. Its tracks show five slightly splayed claws with the heel pad not always visible.

Features

Muskrat

Ondatra zibethicus

  • laterally flattened tail

  • no webbing

Similar species

Nutria

Myocastor coypus
Nutrias are markedly bigger. They have a round tail. Their whiskers are white. There is no webbing on the fifth toe.

European beaver

Castor fiber
The beaver is markedly bigger. It has a paddle-shaped tail. When swimming, only its head and nape are visible out of the water. There is webbing between all toes.
Habitus (PD) Dave Menske

In the city

The muskrat depends on habitats with flowing or stagnant water. It can be found near ponds, lakes and rivers.

It is a shy nocturnal animal. In a sheltered environment, it may also be diurnal. It causes damage by digging and feeding and is thus often described as vermin.

Fun Facts

  • It can dive for up to ten minutes.

  • In actual fact, it is not a rat but a vole.

  • It is a good swimmer and uses the swimming bristles on its feet for paddle-like support.

  • Musk is the name of the intense aromatic substance excreted by males during the mating season. It is also used generically to describe secretions from other animals and plants. Its purpose is to attract females.

  • One explanation for the great proliferation of the muskrat is that there is little competition in the habitat they occupy.

  • It can be an intermediate host for the fox tapeworm, as it is a prey of foxes.

  • Endangerment level Germany: not evaluated

  • The muskrat originally comes from North America. Since the beginning of the 20th century, they have also been found in Europe. This makes it a non-native animal (Neozoa).

Habitus (CC BY-SA 3.0) Stefan Ertl

Sources

Habitus , Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ondatra_zibethicus_CT.jpg

Habitus , Dave Menske, PD, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ondatra_zibethicus_FWS.jpg

Habitus , Stefan Ertl, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bisamratte.jpg

Page „Bisamratte“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 21.09.2016, 09:11 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bisamratte&oldid=158098567 (Accessed: 01.12.2016).

Di Monaco, A. (2014-2016) Unterschied Nutria, Biber & Bisam oder ' wie erkenne ich ein Nutria ', URL: http://www.nutria-info.com/unterschied-nutria-biber-bisam/ (Accessed: 01.12.2016).

Wildnisschule Wildniswissen (n.d.) Herzlich willkommen auf Spurenjagd.de! URL: http://www.spurenjagd.de/ (Accessed: 01.12.2016).

Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Région wallonne (2007) Spuren/Trittsiegel erkennen. Spurensucherschulung: Europa LIFE, URL: http://www.loutres.be/IMG/pdf/Spurensucherschulung.pdf (Accessed: 01.12.2016).

Haupt, H., Ludwig, G., Gruttke, H., Binot-Hafke, M., Otto C. & Pauly, A. (2009) Rote Liste gefährdeter Tiere, Pflanzen und Pilze Deutschlands. volume 1: Wirbeltiere, Bonn-Bad Godesberg: Bundesamt für Naturschutz.

Klawitter, J., Altenkamp, R., Kallasch, C., Köhler, D., Krauß, M., Rosenau, S. & Teige, T. (2005) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Säugetiere (Mammalia) von Berlin. : Der Landesbeauftragte für Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege / Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung (eds.) Rote Listen der gefährdeten Pflanzen und Tiere von Berlin, URL: https://www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/natur-und-gruen/naturschutz/artenschutz/artenlisten-rote-listen/saeugetiere/ (Accessed: 30.03.2021).