Otters, snapping turtles, herons, bullfrogs, and large fish such as pike, and largemouth bass, and predatory land reptiles, includes the monitor lizard will prey on baby muskrats. Mostly though, they tend to prefer vegetation like cattails, waterlilies, roots and pondweed. (Image: © Sergey Uryadnikov / Shutterstock). Females can have two or three litters a year of six to eight young each. "Fish-borne parasitic zoonoses: Status and issues". Introduced range in South America not shown.). They can swim under water for 12 to 17 minutes. [15], Muskrats are found over most of Canada and the United States and a small part of northern Mexico. Some muskrats live in burrows on the water banks. Muskrats live in a family of male, female, and their offspring. These entrances are 6–8 in (15–20 cm) wide. Though thought of as pests because they sometimes eat crops and block waterways with their lodges, muskrats are very helpful. That's sometimes how it is with animal species, like the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). Muskrats, like most rodents, are prolific breeders. The muskrat(Ondatra zibethicus) is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent. Muskrats aren't picky. Kits are fully grown at six weeks and typically stay with their family, unless there is overcrowding. The fur has two layers, which provides protection from cold water. The babies are born small and hairless, and weigh only about 22 g (0.78 oz). These houses, made of plants, protect the muskrat from predators, since the only entrance is underwater. Muskrat families build nests to protect themselves and their young from cold and predators. Muskrats also have brown, waterproof fur like a beaver, and they have webbed fe… The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), the only species in genus Ondatra and tribe ondatrini, is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. Muskrats are large rodents, and therefore are related to rats, mice, voles, gerbils, hamsters and lemmings. Muskrats normally live in groups consisting of a male and female pair and their young. Muskrats also eat corn and other farm and garden crops growing near water bodies. You will receive a verification email shortly. [17] They also selectively remove preferred plant species, thereby changing the abundance of plant species in many kinds of wetlands. Muskrats are rodents that live in freshwater and saltwater marshes, lakes, ponds, and streams. [16] They are thought to play a major role in determining the vegetation of prairie wetlands in particular. [12] That is about four times the weight of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), though an adult muskrat is only slightly longer, and are almost certainly the largest and heaviest members of the diverse family Cricetidae, which includes all voles, lemmings, and most mice native to the Americas. It also helps them float in water. Muskrats often build dome-shaped houses in marshes. In snowy areas, they keep the openings to their push-ups closed by plugging them with vegetation, which they replace every day. Muskrats eat one-third of their weight every day, according to the ADW. They can be completely eradicated in shallow water bodies, and during the winter of 1948–49 in the Amu Darya (river in central Asia), muskrats constituted 12.3% of jackal faeces contents, and 71% of muskrat houses were destroyed by jackals, 16% of which froze and became unsuitable for muskrat occupation. (2009). (2005). Early in the 20th century, muskrats wereintroducedto northern Eurasia including Ukraine, Russia, Siberia, adjacent areas of Chinaand Mongolia. They mostly inhabit wetlands, areas in or near saline and freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes, or ponds. [8][9] The genus name comes from the Huron word for the animal, ondathra,[10] and entered New Latin as Ondatra via French. Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. They typically make their homes in marshes, swamps and wetlands.