Tennessee mammals

Muskrat in Tennessee

Ondatra zibethicus

Native to Tennessee S5 Secure in Tennessee

Not listed as nonindigenous in Tennessee by USGS NAS; native to its Tennessee range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Muskrats resting on a floating log in open waterMuskrat swimming head-on through calm waterLive muskrat sitting on a grassy bank at the water edgeTwo muskrats at a grassy water edgeMuskrat swimming with a long narrow tail trailing behind
Photo: Ken Clark · CC-BYMuskrats resting on a floating log in open waterPhoto: Svetlana Tsarakhova · CC0Muskrat swimming head-on through calm waterPhoto: Robert McLeod · CC0Live muskrat sitting on a grassy bank at the water edgePhoto: Dan Vickers · CC-BYTwo muskrats at a grassy water edgePhoto: Lukas Zangl · CC-BYMuskrat swimming with a long narrow tail trailing behind

Muskrat in Tennessee, by the numbers

Common in Tennessee 20th most recorded of 86 mammals logged in Tennessee

410 occurrence records
384 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 3, 2026 Last seen in Tennessee

Records from 2000–2026.

410 total records count every Tennessee occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 407 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Muskrat in Tennessee

Most sightings fall in March to June.

407 Tennessee occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Tennessee records (table)
MonthRecords
January16
February34
March67
April77
May51
June58
July26
August16
September22
October10
November11
December19

Monthly muskrat occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Tennessee, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Tennessee, with recorded sightings peaking in March–June.

Occurrence map

Where Muskrat has been recorded in Tennessee

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Tennessee records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Murfree Springs Refuge 41
Radnor Lake 22
Cherokee National Forest 19
Dunbar Cave 11
Seven Islands 7
Reelfoot 6
To Fuller 3
Kyker Bottoms Wildlife Management Area 2

Protected places with the most muskrat sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Tennessee

CountyRecords
Rutherford County 93
Davidson County 44
Shelby County 40
Knox County 39
Sullivan County 28
Hamilton County 27
Carter County 19
Blount County 16
Montgomery County 11
Anderson County 10
Lake County 10
Sevier County 10
32 other counties 63

The complete county distribution, spread across 44 Tennessee counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Radnor Lake holds the clearest named cluster of Tennessee muskrat reports, while records also reach Cherokee National Forest and the river lowlands of West Tennessee. The shared feature is water with vegetated banks, whether it’s a lake edge, marsh, slow stream, or pond. Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers suitable pockets, but its steep forested terrain isn’t uniformly muskrat habitat.

Reports rise sharply from March through June, then drop through late summer and autumn. April has the highest total. Visibility around fresh bank vegetation and observer activity can influence that spring pattern, so it reflects reports rather than population size.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Muskrat in other states

Muskrats resting on a floating log in open water
Full species profile Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus Size 25–36 cm9.8–14.2 in Weight 0.6–2 kg1.3–4.4 lb Lifespan 3 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Tennessee in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"