JANUARY 2022

Other than its name may suggest, the muskrat doesn’t belong to the rat family. They belong to the vole family and are their largest members. Muskrat are native to North America and were introduced to Europe and parts of Asia in the 20th century. Like beavers they spend most of the time in water and are perfectly adapted to a semiaquatic life. Usually active at dusk and dawn they feed on a wide variety of water plants as well as grass and twigs, sometimes they feed on frogs and fish too. When they dig their burrows along the creeks and rivers they often cause a lot of damage to fields and agricultural sites and in some areas they are considered as pest. Minks and foxes are the main enemies for them but do not have a serious influence on their numbers. This was the first time for me to see and photograph a muskrat in Bavaria. For for bavarian wildlife click here.