Maine’s 310 muskrat records come from every one of its 16 counties, from York on the New Hampshire line to Aroostook at the top of the state. Penobscot County leads with 42, Cumberland follows with 33, and Lincoln, York, and Hancock aren’t far behind. That’s a far more even spread than in most states, where one metro county usually swamps the rest.
Spring comes late, and the season runs long
Reports barely register through winter. February has just four. Then they jump in April, peak in May, and ease down only slowly through June, July, and August before thinning in fall. In states to the south, records spike in early spring and drop fast. Here, ice leaves the ponds later and the open-water season is short, so sightings stretch across the whole summer instead of bunching into a few weeks.
Acadia National Park is the most frequently named place, with Hirundo Wildlife Refuge north of Bangor well behind. All but three of the 310 records are iNaturalist observations.
Maine counts the muskrat as a native, secure species, S5 in NatureServe’s ranking, at home in lakes, beaver flowages, and tidal marsh edges.
Full species profile
