muskrat hut - nova scotia, canada

Muskrats are one of few mammals well-adapted to wetlands and are an important contributor to the overall ecosystem. They are generally herbivorous.

"Muskrats and beavers influence marshes more by their cutting of vegetation for lodges, storage, and nests than by their cutting for food consumption. In the North, these lodges provide protection against the cold and heavy snow, as well as a food supply that may be exploited in late win ter and early spring, when resources are at their annual low. Muskrat lodges are built quickly in the late summer and early fall when the vegetation has reached its peak. Some are six feet (1.5 meters) high and fifteen feet (4.6 meters) in diameter, and terrestrial plants may grow on them. They may be abandoned after one season and settle into the water from autumn rain and winter snow. Enriched by bird and muskrat droppings, they may become germination sites of semiaquatic plants. The pools formed where lodges were built remain open for a long time in some situations, perhaps because of their high organic content and lack of aeration when flooded. These open pools are favored places for a variety of birds."

Freshwater Marshes - Ecology and Wildlife Management, Third Edition. Milton W. Weller. University of Minnesota Press, 1981.

Photo: Larry from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons