We noticed a small mammal years ago in the pond near our campsite at Fair Haven. When I saw it poke its head up and swim, I kept picturing otters. But I knew that otters were not found in the area. So once I got identification books for this class, I figured out that what I had been seeing was a muskrat! This particular muskrat lives in the tall grasses and cattails at the edge of a small inlet of Sterling Pond. It swims from there out into the rest of the pond periodically, dipping its head up. I tried to get several pictures this past week when I'd see it swimming in the evening, but they just looked like a tiny dot on the surface of the pond. So this photo is credited at the end of my post.
The
muskrat is slightly smaller than a raccoon with brown fur on its body and a grayish belly. They can be misidentified as beavers, but they are much smaller, typically slimmer, and have a much thinner tail. The most surprising bit of information to me was that one muskrat can have 8 babies at a time up to 8 times a year. Can you imagine having to take care of 64 kids at once? Oh, wait... I'm a teacher, so I can imagine that.
Martin, A. (n.d.). A muskrat swimming along in a pond [Photograph; jpg].
https://www.123rf.com/photo_97014909_a-muskrat-swimming-along-in-a-pond.html
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