Muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents native to North America, often inhabiting wetlands, marshes, and ponds. These animals, which weigh between two and four pounds, are generally shy and non-confrontational, preferring to avoid encounters with humans and larger animals. The common perception of them as inherently aggressive or “mean” is largely inaccurate. Their behavior is driven by the need for survival, including foraging and maintaining their homes, not by a desire to provoke conflict.
Understanding Muskrat Temperament
Muskrats exhibit a temperament that is overwhelmingly retiring and focused on their own environment. They are primarily crepuscular or nocturnal, meaning they are most active around dawn and dusk, which helps them avoid daytime predators and human activity. Their daily routines revolve around foraging for food and tending to their lodges or burrows along the water’s edge.
The bulk of a muskrat’s diet is herbivorous, consisting mainly of the roots, stems, and leaves of aquatic plants such as cattails and water lilies. Though classified as omnivores, they occasionally consume small aquatic animals like mussels or crayfish. Muskrats are excellent swimmers, using their partially webbed hind feet for propulsion and their long, compressed tail as a rudder. They can remain underwater for up to 17 minutes when necessary.
Socially, muskrats typically live in small family groups consisting of a male, female, and their offspring, often maintaining a defined territory. Their actions are instinctual and centered on self-preservation and the protection of their young and territory, especially during the breeding season. While they possess prominent teeth, their natural inclination upon sensing danger is to retreat to the safety of the water or their underwater den entrance, not to initiate an attack.
Specific Triggers for Defensive Behavior
Aggressive behavior in a muskrat is not a sign of a “mean” disposition but rather a predictable, defensive response to an immediate and perceived threat. Bites or scratches are rare, occurring almost exclusively when the animal feels its life is in danger and cannot escape. One of the most common triggers for aggression is when a muskrat is cornered or trapped, blocking its retreat to the water or its burrow entrance.
A female muskrat will become fiercely defensive when protecting her kits, particularly during the breeding season from spring through summer. Any animal or person who approaches a den or a litter is likely to be met with a protective display of hostility. Additionally, a muskrat that appears disoriented, lethargic, or overly aggressive may be injured or ill, which can alter its natural avoidance behavior.
Muskrats can carry several diseases, including tularemia and leptospirosis, which can be transmitted to humans through contact with contaminated water or an infected animal. An animal suffering from an advanced infection might exhibit erratic behavior. It is important to avoid handling any wild animal, especially one showing abnormal behavior, as a defensive bite carries the risk of disease transmission.
Nuisance Behavior and Safe Coexistence
The reputation muskrats have for being problematic stems not from direct aggression, but from their natural tunneling activities that can cause structural damage. Muskrats construct burrows into earthen banks, dams, dikes, and shorelines, with the entrance typically located below the water line. Extensive burrowing can weaken these structures, leading to erosion, collapse, and potential flooding.
Managing the presence of muskrats involves mitigating the effects of this burrowing behavior without attempting to engage with the animal directly. Habitat modification is an effective, non-lethal deterrent, such as removing dense aquatic vegetation like cattails, which serve as their primary food source. Reinforcing shorelines with materials like rock riprap or heavy-gauge wire mesh can physically discourage burrowing into banks.
It is unwise and often illegal for private citizens to attempt to trap or remove muskrats themselves, as improper handling increases the risk of a defensive injury and potential disease exposure. If muskrat activity is causing significant property damage, the appropriate course of action is to contact a licensed wildlife control professional. These experts understand safe, legal methods for removal and are equipped to minimize the risk of transmission for diseases like tularemia.