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 29th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

1,019 occurrence records
749 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 11, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

1,019 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 1,001 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Muskrat in Washington

Most sightings fall in March to May.

1,001 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
January60
February60
March119
April177
May137
June84
July70
August51
September41
October49
November68
December85

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
Skagit-Snoqualmie Wildlife Area Complex 9
Tennant Lake Park 7
Columbia Basin Wildlife Area Complex 5
Riverside 5
Mount Saint Helens-Shillapoo Wildlife Area Complex 4
Whatcom Wildlife Area Complex 4
San Juan Islands National Monument 4
Methow Wildlife Area Complex 4

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 352
Whitman County 110
Walla Walla County 73
Thurston County 70
Pierce County 49
Clark County 40
Spokane County 40
Whatcom County 33
Grant County 33
Kittitas County 25
Benton County 20
Snohomish County 18
25 other counties 156

The complete county distribution, spread across 37 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 1,019 Washington records since 2000. iNaturalist accounts for 749 records and GBIF for 790; 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 177 records; September has only 41. 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

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"