Mammals on Monday 12 - Muskrat

The Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native found over much of North America.

I saw this individual at the St. Jacobs Millrace trail in Ontario, Canada.  It was a cloudy day, and I only managed one burst of pictures before the Muskrat dived and disappeared.

I'm sure this will be a familiar animal to many of you (most of my blog views come from Canada and the USA) - but I was pretty excited to see one - even though it was not a beaver!

Adult muskrats weigh 0.6–2 kg, with a body length (excluding the tail) of 20–35 cm. They are covered with short, thick fur of medium to dark brown color. Their long tails, covered with scales rather than hair.

According to the sources on the internet 'The muskrat's name probably comes from a word of Algonquian origin, muscascus (literally "it is red", so called for its colourings), or from the Abenaki native word mòskwas. Because of the association with the "musky" odor, which the muskrat uses to mark its territory, and its flattened tail, the name became altered to musk-beaver; later it became "muskrat" due to its resemblance to rats'.

Equally interesting is the fact that it is illegal to import Muskrats into New Zealand! 

Cheers.  SM