Is this a beaver?

Well, it sure looks like it could be. But if you could see its skinny, long tail, you'd know it's not a beaver. This animal is much smaller than a beaver. It is a muskrat. An adult muskrat weighs about 2 pounds. An adult beaver typically weighs around 40 pounds.

The muskrat spends most of its life in water and is native to North America. It makes its living eating vegetation along streams, lakes or pond banks where it tunnels into the dirt to make a den. Usually the den has at least two entrances -- one below water and one above.

Female muskrats can rear a couple litters of young per year. A litter is usually four to six offspring. Muskrats can cause problems for farmers whose fields come close to stream banks by eating crops and by digging tunnels that can undermine the path a farm implement might take.