The muskrat is Arizona’s most aquatic rodent, a marsh dweller in a mostly dry state, and it turns up only where water is dependable. Open occurrence databases hold 164 Arizona records for it, a mix of iNaturalist photos and museum and survey entries that trace the state’s scattered wetlands and waterways.
Tied to permanent water
A muskrat cannot stray far from water, so in Arizona it clings to the places that stay wet: the canals and reservoirs of the Phoenix basin in Maricopa County, the rivers and ponds of Yavapai County, the Lower Colorado River corridor near Yuma, and the high wet meadows and streams of the White Mountains in Apache County. It swims with a long, side-flattened tail and partly webbed hind feet, feeds on cattails, bulrush, and other aquatic plants, and shelters in a bank burrow or a domed lodge of piled vegetation. Where the water holds it can be common; where the water dries, the muskrat is simply gone.
An animal of water, not season
Because it stays active all year and does not hibernate, the muskrat’s records follow water and observers far more than any calendar. It is a genuine native Arizonan rather than an introduction, and its fortunes here rise and fall with the health of the wetlands and river corridors it cannot live without.
Common questions
Where can I see a muskrat in Arizona? Around permanent water. The Phoenix-area canals and reservoirs, the Lower Colorado River near Yuma, and the streams and marshes of the White Mountains are the likeliest places.
Full species profile
