Common Muskrat

Muskrats are semiaquatic rodents native to North America and introduced widely across Eurasia. They inhabit marshes, ponds, lakes, canals, and slow rivers with abundant emergent vegetation. Dense waterproof fur, partially webbed hind feet, and a vertically flattened tail support swimming. Muskrats construct bank burrows or conspicuous vegetation lodges containing dry nesting chambers above water level, and they establish feeding platforms within their aquatic home ranges. (Animal Diversity Web)

Their diet consists chiefly of aquatic vegetation, including stems, roots, and tubers, but mollusks, fish, and other small animals may supplement plant foods. Muskrats reproduce rapidly, and females can bear several litters within a favorable season. Gestation lasts approximately twenty-five to thirty days, producing one to fourteen young per litter. Newborns are initially blind and nearly hairless, remaining in the nest while the mother nurses and protects them until they can swim and forage. (Animal Diversity Web)