Washington mammals

Muskrat in Washington

Ondatra zibethicus

Native to Washington S5 Secure in Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; native to its Washington 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 Washington, by the numbers

Common in Washington 27th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

827 occurrence records
822 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 11, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

827 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 778 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Muskrat in Washington

Most sightings fall in March to May.

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

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January26
February44
March98
April150
May128
June79
July83
August55
September47
October24
November25
December19

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in March–May.

Occurrence map

Where Muskrat has been recorded in Washington

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Tennant Lake Park 9
Skagit-Snoqualmie Wildlife Area Complex 8
Columbia Basin Wildlife Area Complex 5
Riverside 5
Methow Wildlife Area Complex 4
Whatcom Wildlife Area Complex 4
Mount Saint Helens-Shillapoo Wildlife Area Complex 3
San Juan Islands National Monument 3

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 Washington

CountyRecords
King County 326
Thurston County 79
Clark County 42
Pierce County 39
Whatcom County 33
Spokane County 32
Walla Walla County 30
Kittitas County 24
Grant County 22
Whitman County 22
Snohomish County 20
Okanogan County 14
24 other counties 144

The complete county distribution, spread across 36 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

For muskrat, the state overlay brings together 827 Washington records since 2000. iNaturalist accounts for 822 records and GBIF for 535; those figures describe reporting systems, not animals on the ground. Within the 126-species Washington ranking, that places it at number 27.

Reporting is most concentrated in April, with 150 records; September has only 47. The site summary gives Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge the largest explicit count, at 6. The evidence measures when and where records entered the dataset, rather than biological abundance.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Muskrat in other states

Muskrat range map (all 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 Washington 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"