1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,399 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. Most people don't know 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: much about muskrats, perhaps other than remembering that classic nine 4 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: seventies song about their ability to experience romantic love. While 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: we can't speak to that, here's what we do know 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: about muskrats. Muskrats are semi aquatic rodents. They're stout little 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: critters with thick fur that can range in color from 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: red to brown to black. It's also lighter on their 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,919 Speaker 1: throat and stomach. A short, stiff coat of under fur 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: provides them with much needed insulation and buoyancy in the water. 11 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: They can weigh anywhere from one to six pounds that's 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: about half a kilo to three kilos, and can be 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: a foot or too long, about thirty to sixty centimes. 14 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: Their long tails are vertically flattened and sparsely haired. It 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: acts as a rudder when a muskrat swims. There are 16 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: sometimes staken for their rodent cousins, beavers, which are also 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: semi aquatic. However, beavers are larger than muskrats, about the 18 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: size of a small golden retriever, and their tails are 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: horizontally flat like a paddle. For the article this episode 20 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,559 Speaker 1: is based on, has to Fork spoke with Margaret Gillespie, 21 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: a naturalist with Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in New Hampshire. 22 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: She said beavers and muskrats are both gnawing rodents, but 23 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: beavers build dams that result in ponds where muskrats can live. 24 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: Swimming is muskrats forte and they are fast. They can 25 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: paddle up to three miles an hour that's five kilometers 26 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: an hour. Their large hind feet are partially webbed and 27 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: act as oars. They're also able to stay underwater without 28 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: taking a breath for up to twenty minutes. You can 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: find them in any type of fresh water, including ponds 30 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: and lakes, but they prefer marshes with lots of vegetation 31 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: and a steady depth of at least four to six 32 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: feet that's one to two meters of water. They're swimming 33 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: skills make up for their poor vision, hearing, and sense 34 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: of smell. Muskrats are native to most of North America 35 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: south of the tundra. Marshes provide muskrats a full menu 36 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: of food, which is good because they eat about a 37 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: third of their body weight every day. They typically eat roots, stocks, 38 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: and cattails, with a few frogs and insects thrown in. 39 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: In the winter, they swim below the surface ice to 40 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: get to roots, because unlike beavers, they prefer food fresh 41 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: and don't store it away for the cold months. Flaps 42 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: in their mouths behind their teeth keep water from getting 43 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: in while they're eating. Muskrats use mud and vegetation to 44 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: build dome shaped lodges on tree stumps or anything that's 45 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: partially submerged in water. Their lodges can be up to 46 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: three feet that's one meter tall and contain dry chambers 47 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: that the animals live in. They help them keep cool 48 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: during the summer and warm during cold winters. Each lodge 49 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: will have it least one underwater entrance to a tunnel 50 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: extending out to dry land. Muskrats like to stay in 51 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: large family groups within their own territories. The female muskrats 52 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: are prolific childbearers and have one to three litters of 53 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: five or six kits every year. They nest in chambers 54 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: inside their lodges and have a gestation period of just 55 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: about a month. Kids are born blind, but they're quick learners. 56 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: They can swim at about twenty one days after birth. 57 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: Muskrat moms will kick their offspring out of the lodge 58 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: when they hit that one month birthday or if it 59 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: just gets too crowded. They can live as long as 60 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: ten years in captivity or about three or four years 61 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: in the wild. Muskrats are active at any time of day, 62 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,119 Speaker 1: but are most active from mid afternoon through dusk. Muskrat 63 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: life isn't just one big swimming party among the cattails, 64 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: though there are many. Predators include raccoons, owls, hawks, fox 65 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: mink otters, and bald eagles, as well as humans who 66 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: trapped them for food, would and for fur. They're slow 67 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: on the land, which is why they stick to the 68 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: water so much. They're swimming skills often allow them to 69 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: escape predators, diving under water or hiding in their lodges. 70 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: Muskrats vocalize with a range of squeaks, chirps, and sort 71 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: of whiney sounds, which often serve as warning of nearby intruders. 72 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: But that's not their only form of communication, and this 73 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: brings us to how they got their name. Muskrats also 74 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: communicate by gland secretion. Gillespie said, rather than being malodorous 75 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: like skunk spray, it has a sweet smell. Its main 76 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: purpose is for scent marking to convey the animal's presence 77 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: in the area. Muskrats can be considered pests on farms. 78 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: Wild muskrats will eat stores of grain and sometimes plug 79 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: the drainage tiles and fields. And since muskrats also have 80 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: a habit of building their homes near dikes or dams, 81 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: the lodges can weaken the structures and eventually destroy them. 82 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: So when a bald eagle snatches up at muskrat for 83 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: dinner or a fur trader traps one, that actually helps 84 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: keep the population in balance and more dikes and dam's intact. 85 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: But back to that song, Muskrat Love. Although it was 86 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: first recorded in the early nineteen seventies by songwriter Willis 87 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: Allan Ramsay and covered soon after by the band America, 88 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: it didn't become a hit until pop duo Captain and 89 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: Tanil covered it in nineteen seventy six. It peaked at 90 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: number four on the Hot one chart that year when 91 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: they sang the song at a July nineteen seventy six 92 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: White House dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth the Second. A guest 93 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: who attended the dinner was later quoted as saying that 94 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: it was in very poor taste to sing about mating 95 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 1: muskrats before the Queen. Today's episode is based on the 96 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,239 Speaker 1: article muskrats are fat little rodents with a signature smell 97 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: on house to forks dot com, written by Meg Sparwin. 98 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: Rain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership 99 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: with house to works dot com, and it's produced by 100 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 101 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 102 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.