Muskrats build distinctive dome-shaped lodges out of cattails and mud, and Montana’s 321 records trace three very different kinds of water where those lodges show up: the high-elevation marshes at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, sheltered coves along Flathead Lake, and slower backwaters threading the Missouri River corridor.
Records rise through spring to a May peak, with a second push in July, rather than one clean season. That spring-and-summer pattern likely tracks both ice-out activity and a wave of young muskrats dispersing to find their own stretch of bank. NatureServe ranks the species S4, apparently secure, statewide, and a fresh lodge or feeding platform is often the easiest way to confirm muskrats are using a wetland even when the animal itself stays out of sight.
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