Muskrat looks like a hamster, but lives in the water. Its long tail, partially covered with scales, helps to dive and swim. It is interesting to understand the lifestyle of this funny animal, to find out what the muskrat eats in different periods of the year.
General characteristics
This mammal from the order of rodents, scientists refer to the family of hamsters (voles), highlighting the only species in the genus - the muskrat. It is believed that the birthplace of the animal is North America. It was from there that the animal was brought to the European continent at the beginning of the 20th century.
Muskrats are well acclimatized and spread in different latitudes. This was facilitated by a policy of purposeful increase in livestock. Animals were bred for skins. Fur products from them were valued for the quality of the down (did not let water through) and appearance.
What the muskrat eats depends on the nature of the reservoir. Regardless of the habitat (pond, marshland, river), aquatic and coastal vegetation predominates. Muskrats spend most of their time in the water. They also prefer to get their own food there, since on land they are less agile and can become easy prey for carnivorous predators.
Features
Clumsiness on land is one of the reasons that muskrats have adapted to live in the water. There they prefer to build their dwellings. The exit of the hole is usually arranged below the water level, taking into account the thickness of its freezing. The muskrat swims quickly and nimbly. Its webbed feet are well adapted to this. Helps to swim, hold and quickly change the direction of the long tail. It is round and thick at the base, and laterally flattened towards the end. When diving, the muskrat can hold its breath for up to 15 minutes or more. Her blood has an increased amount of hemoglobin, and her muscles contain myoglobin, which binds free oxygen.
How and what does a muskrat eat underwater? Another feature of the animal is the location of the incisors. They are separated from the oral cavity by the nasolabial septum. This arrangement allows you to gnaw through thick and strong stems and rhizomes of aquatic vegetation under water. The muskrat cannot choke. She gnaws off a vending part of the plant near the bottom, floats to the surface with it, pulls it to the chosen place (feeding table), and eats calmly there.
Habitat
The body of the animal is well adapted to life in the water. The head is small, the eyes are small. The body is valky, the tail is long and mobile. The hind legs are longer and more powerful with developed webs. The ears are small and almost do not protrude from the undercoat (red, brown).
Outwardly, the muskrat can be mistaken for a large fawn. Her second name ismuscle rat. The animal really looks like this rodent. But a long and peculiar tail, as well as thick fur with a sparse outer hair, distinguishes the muskrat from the usual gray rat. The size of the animal is larger. An adult individual weighs up to 1.5 kg with a body length of up to 35 cm. At the same time, the tail of the muskrat can reach 25 cm. There is no significant difference between males and females.
Usually, the muskrat has enough food in the pond. She also makes walks in the coastal zone, looking for food and building material for her dwellings. In the vicinity of vegetable gardens or agricultural land, animals can cause some harm to cultural plantings. In rare cases, when there is not enough food in the reservoir, the muskrat feeds on pond snails or other mollusks. It has been observed that she can eat fish, frogs and even carrion. With serious overpopulation, cases of cannibalism were noted.
Lifestyle
Muskrat is active mainly at dusk and at night. During the day, you can meet her during the mating season. The offspring of muskrats are born 2-3 times a year. There are usually 6-8 cubs in a litter. They are born blind and do not see until the end of two weeks of age. For almost a month, the mother feeds the cubs with milk. The male is allowed to raise offspring only when it can already feed on its own. The female drives the older generation out of the site and they are forced to look for a new habitat.
Muskrat fur does not get wet, although outwardly it seems to stick together. After shaking off on land, the animal again acquires a neat appearance. Downcontains a large amount of air. It not only gives good buoyancy, but also allows you to keep body heat. The muskrat sheds from spring to late autumn.
Regardless of what the muskrat eats in the pond, she herself has a lot of enemies (wolves, foxes, stray dogs). During migrations, animals can travel long distances (tens of kilometers). During this period, they become easy prey. Their paws are not adapted for long-term movement on land. Long tails are ripped to blood. Weakened animals often die without finding a suitable reservoir for settlement.
What the muskrat eats in summer
The basis of her diet is aquatic and coastal vegetation. In the spring, with the beginning of the growing season, the main food is sedge and reed stalks that have overwintered and started growing. Horsetails, reeds, pondweed are well eaten. The muskrat also eats cattail and watch. In summer and autumn, muskrats have a rich diet. You can choose well-developed stems of underwater vegetation in warm water or eat their rhizomes. If desired, you can conduct an "inventory" of the coastal zone. The animal may be interested in young shoots of shrubs. The muskrat can even gnaw the bark of trees, preferring willow.
What does the river muskrat eat? Animals are not picky. Any suitable greens are used for food: water lily, cattail, water-color, rush, elodea. Muskrats quickly get used to the new environment. When living conditions change, the most suitable site is chosen, immediately looking for a place for possible burrow equipment. Where are they foundfodder, equip fodder tables. This is usually a conveniently located dry bump.
What does a muskrat eat in winter
The food base changes with the change of seasons. The muskrat cannot work up fat for wintering during the summer period. She does not hibernate. Since autumn, it tries to collect a sufficient supply of food, dumping it in different places of the reservoir. At the beginning of winter, she can still easily find food among the dying shoots of horsetails, cattails and reeds.
Later, she extracts their rhizomes located on the bottom surface or lying in the bottom layer of silt. With a lack of food, it can also eat animal food for some time. Gives preference to bivalves and pond snails. Catches crustaceans, weakened and dead fish, can eat carrion.
What does the muskrat eat in the lake if it freezes almost completely in winter? As a rule, muskrat does not populate such reservoirs. The usual depth at the exit of her hole is more than a meter. In the event of a harsh winter or temporary bad weather, the muskrat feeds on the walls of its hut. Since autumn, it begins to pull branches of shrubs and fallen trees, reeds, sedges, and cattails to the construction site. Strengthens the stems with clay and silt. The height of the house can reach a meter, and the pile is located in a circle with a diameter of up to two meters.
Breeding
Muskrat is grown in private and special farms mainly for obtaining skins for fur. From such raw materials inexpensive fur coats, hats, accessories are obtained. The fur is light, repels water well and lasts for several seasons. After 4 -5 years of use, the product is still losing its appearance.
The meat of the animals is also edible and can be considered a delicacy in some places. To taste, it is somewhat reminiscent of hare and used to be called "swamp rabbit". For rubbing in folk medicine, fat is used. The secret of the glands of males, located on the abdomen in the inguinal region, has a sharp musky odor. Animals use it to mark the boundaries of their territory. It can also be used in the perfume industry.
Captivity
In artificial cultivation, the food base is different from what the muskrat eats in a pond or other natural reservoir. Animals are bred in aviaries or cages with access to the fenced part of the reservoir. During the construction of the nest, branches and other building materials are thrown up. Muskrats do not build large nests in the artificial environment. If it is impossible to provide access to the reservoir, a basin is placed in the cage where the animals will swim. Water is changed twice a day.
They eat almost everything they give. Eat vegetables well. They will not refuse fresh dandelion grass, wormwood. With pleasure they will eat mowed coastal vegetation. You can give germinated wheat, boiled porridge, bread. As a food supplement during the growth period, it is advisable to add animal feed in a small amount: cottage cheese, milk, meat and fish products.
With proper care and good maintenance, muskrats get used to humans relatively quickly. There are cases when these animals lived nearpeople as pets. Although this way of keeping can be dangerous. The muskrat is still a wild animal. In addition, they can carry certain types of diseases.
