Mammal Web Page

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Muskrat / Groundhog
Kingdom:	Animal
Phylum:	Mammalia
Class:	Rodentia
Order:	Cricetidae
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Ondatra
Species:	zibethicus

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Description

The muskrat is a medium- sized rodent. It has short front legs and small feet. But, it has stronger hind legs with large feet. It's tail is vertically flat and scaly. The tail it's only slightly shorter than the head and body. The back of the animal is black/ brown. The sides of the animal are brown with a reddish tinge. They 16 to 25 inches long And they weigh anywhere from 1 and a half to 4 pounds.

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Habitat

The muskrat is widely spread throughout Canada, Alaska, Europe, Asia, and the United States. The muskrat lives in lakes, ponds, sloughs, calm rivers, marshes, streams, and swamps. They dig holes in riverbanks, or build houses of vegetation and mud. It looks very similar to beaver nests.

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Range

The muskrat lives in Canada, Alaska, Europe, Asia, and the United States.

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Food

The Muskrat eats a wide variety of foods. The muskrats normal dinner is an nice arrangement of stems and leaves. Although if available it'll eat clams, frogs, crayfish, carrion, and rough fish.

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Life Cycle

The Muskrats breeding begins in March or April. The gestation period is for 30 days. A single female will have 4 litters of 4-8 young a summer. When the young turn four weeks old they are expected to fend for themselves. They live with their mother until they are 4 months old. The average life span for the Muskrat is around three years in the wild.

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Survival

The Muskrat does not ask for much in life. The only thing it needs for survival is vegetation and a good habitat.

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Facts

There are many interesting facts about the Muskrat. Here are three:

1.Muskrats contain two abdominal scent glands containing musk, that is used to mark its territories.

2. Muskrats make floating rafts to sit and eat upon.

3. Muskrats can cause flooding by building their homes in the river banks.

Human Impact

The muskrat is one of the most important fur bearers. Therefore it is always on the lookout for hunters. Making it's life havoc and stressful. This not only wears away the Muskrats energy but it could lead to extinction. These situations are the most common cause of the human impact although, if we're not careful many things could lead to the death or extinction of the Muskrat.