Muskrat

Ondatra Zibethicus

Keanan Fox

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Genus: Ondatra
Species: Zibethicus

Physical Description

The regular muskrat is 16 - 26 inches long with tail. They are waterproof. Their back feet are webbed. They have scaly tails that are flattened vertically to help them swim and steer in the water. Muskrats have big nostrils that store oxygen underwater so they can stay underwater longer.

Diet and Feeding Habits

Muskrats pretty much eat all vegetation that is in the marshes and wetlands. They also eat snails, clams, crayfish, and anything smaller than them that is living in the wetlands. They also eat some dead things. They are omnivores.

Reproduction

The male muskrat emits a musky like odor during breeding season to attract his mate. The female muskrat has a litter of 1-11 young each year. The baby muskrats are born blind and have close to no fur. The furred young are called kits. The young muskrats sometimes travel 20 miles to find homes. The young muskrats fight a lot.

Habitat

Muskrats live in burrows that they dig in the banks of streams. In the winter they build lodges with underwater entrances to keep them out of the cold. They live in swamps and marshes.

Role in the Ecosystem

Muskrats keep the vegetation in wetlands down they also keep down the population of snails, clams, small fish, and sometimes frogs and crayfish. They provide food for minks, foxes, raccoons, coyotes, owls, hawks, and alligators. Muskrats have really valuable fur and fur trappers trap them for it. They make lakes when they make there dams. The bad thing about this is sometimes they damage dikes and levees with their dams. If prepared properly they are supposedly very tasty to eat. Muskrats can stay under water for fifteen minuets.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat
http://sevilleta.unm.edu/data/species/mammal/sevilleta/profile/common-muskrat.html
World Book, by Charles A. Long, Muskrat