Muskrats occupy Iowa marshes, ponds, slow streams, drainage ditches, and river backwaters with emergent vegetation. Their feeding platforms, bank burrows, and compact vegetation houses are often noticed before the animal itself.
Wetlands at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and along the Mississippi near Effigy Mounds provide suitable habitat, as do many state wildlife areas and farm ponds. Scanning open water early or late in the day is productive, especially where cattails and sedges border quiet channels.
Records occur in every month and peak from March through May. Ice-out, spring dispersal, and increased shoreline activity make muskrats more visible then; summer vegetation can conceal them even when they remain active.
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