Muskrat reports follow California’s marshes, ponds, canals, and slow waterways rather than the dry land between them. Klamath Basin, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay, and the Salton Sea each offer wetland habitat, but their cold winters, tidal marshes, and desert heat create very different conditions.
Records rise from March through June, with the clearest high in April, then fall sharply in late summer. Spring vegetation and more time above water may aid detection. Muskrats are established nonnative mammals in California, yet report clusters still mark accessible banks and watched refuges rather than population size.
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