9707 Craun Road, Dewitt, Michigan 48820, United States
Muskrats
To a farmer with a tiled field, this is a very bad sight. Call us today and we can offer special deals to farms for ongoing muskrat and woodchuck removal.
Damages
Muskrats are VERY damaging to the nice edges of ponds, rivers, under decks, under houses and sheds and other buildings within 1000 feet of water. because of the style of home that they build. They will also tunnel into a building if they believe that a winter store of food is available.
Diseases
Like any rodent, muskrats can carry Rabies, some human diseases, salmonella, and giardia
Human Contact
Although muskrats will work very hard to get away from people and back to the safety of water, a threatened muskrat has come after our employees. With rodent teeth and a constant need to chew, they can inflict quite a bit of damage.
Biology / Animal Information
Latin Name: Ondatra zibethica
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Muskrats are small rodents with dense glossy brown fur and a flattish-oblong hairless tail, weighing one to two pounds in the south and three to four pounds in the north. Total length varies from 19 to 25 inches. Muskrats are nocturnal and can swim forwards and backwards with the aid of partially-webbed hind feet. Males have prominent musk glands beneath the skin on their lower abdomen that swell
in the spring and produce a yellowish musky-smelling fluid. Muskrats are found throughout Michigan. Habitats include marshes, lakes, ponds, streams, and ditches where they feed on aquatic plants such as cattails, rushes, and water lilies. Mink, fox, coyotes, hawks, and owls eat muskrats.
Muskrats burrow into banks of streams and ponds, and they build prominent lodges out of cattails or other vegetation in marshes and lakes. They have a small home range, seldom traveling more than 1000 feet from their den.
Breeding occurs from late winter to September in the north, and year-round in the south, producing one to five litters a year and one to 11young per litter. Muskrats are sexually mature at six months of age.
Muskrats can be trapped relocated quite easily.
If you see this on your river or pond bank, you have a muskrat problem.
If a muskrat gets into your pool, it will treat the bank (or sides) of your pool like the bank of a pond, and try to create a den.