A rodent that loves water

By Aaron Horrell

This little animal is often mistaken for a beaver. It loves water and lives in the same environment as the beaver, but it is much smaller and does not build dams.

This fellow is a muskrat. It is native to North America, where it is common in the lakes and waterways of Southeast Missouri.

The muskrat is a rodent, which makes it a relative of rats; however, it is not a rat.

An adult muskrat has a furry body about one foot long and a scaly tail, also about one foot long. Its hind feet are webbed between the toes, while the toes on its front feet are not webbed.

Muskrats mostly eat aquatic vegetation.

They sometimes build lodges made of vegetation, such as American lotus, in shallow water in which to live. The muskrat structures are much smaller than beaver lodges, constructed from large tree limbs. More often, the muskrat will dig a hole in the dirt bank of a stream or lake where it can live and raise its young safely.