Still water and dense bank vegetation define Pennsylvania’s muskrat record at Pymatuning’s shallow reservoir margins, Presque Isle’s marshes, and the slower tributaries and backwaters of Delaware Water Gap. Those accessible wetlands can reveal lodges and feeding platforms even without a direct sighting.
Records crest from March through May as open water returns and bank activity becomes easier to see. Because a swimming animal, lodge, or feeding platform can all prompt a report, the total describes detection rather than population size.
Full species profile
