Muskrats live in cattail marshes, beaver ponds, slow rivers, and the fresher reaches of Maine’s tidal wetlands. Scan quietly near dawn or dusk for a small head making a V-shaped wake, and check banks for burrow entrances or low feeding platforms built from clipped vegetation.
They remain active beneath the ice in winter, but Maine observations rise sharply from April through July as open water returns and shoreline travel becomes obvious. Their houses can resemble small beaver lodges, though muskrat structures are usually lower and made chiefly from marsh plants.
Full species profile
