Tag Archives: common muskrat

White Claws, White Fur

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A common muskrat eats while standing on a downed log in a marsh at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Muskrats have brown fur like most of our aquatic rodents, but they aren’t solid brown. They have white patches near the tip of their nose and white bellies, and especially when their fur is wet you can see the white at the base of their brown fur.

The muskrats at Ridgefield tend to be pretty skittish so I was surprised when this one didn’t bolt as I came up on it as I walked the forested section of the auto tour in late spring. The chubby little thing didn’t let my presence dissuade it from feeding plants into its mouth, usually with both hands, and let me watch for as long as I wanted.

Trailblazer

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A muskrat eats the grasses at the edge of the marsh at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

A muskrat eats the talls marsh grasses that grow near the water at Ridgefield, the muskrat is standing on dry ground inches above the waterline. You can actually see a bumble bee flying just above its body, something I hadn’t noticed at the time. More to the point, you can also see the trail the muskrat has worn through the tall plants to reach the water’s edge.

White Claws

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A common muskrat stands on a log in a marsh in Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

This was the first time I had seen a muskrat out of the water, and even from a distance I was startled to see how long and white its claws were. In this picture, it has splayed out its front paws so that you can see each individual finger and the long nail on each one, as well as the nails on its rear feet. The picture was taken in a quiet backwater channel on the Kiwa Trail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.