WEBVTT - How Do Muskrats Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. Most people don't know

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<v Speaker 1>much about muskrats, perhaps other than remembering that classic nine

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<v Speaker 1>seventies song about their ability to experience romantic love. While

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<v Speaker 1>we can't speak to that, here's what we do know

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<v Speaker 1>about muskrats. Muskrats are semi aquatic rodents. They're stout little

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<v Speaker 1>critters with thick fur that can range in color from

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<v Speaker 1>red to brown to black. It's also lighter on their

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<v Speaker 1>throat and stomach. A short, stiff coat of under fur

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<v Speaker 1>provides them with much needed insulation and buoyancy in the water.

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<v Speaker 1>They can weigh anywhere from one to six pounds that's

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<v Speaker 1>about half a kilo to three kilos, and can be

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<v Speaker 1>a foot or too long, about thirty to sixty centimes.

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<v Speaker 1>Their long tails are vertically flattened and sparsely haired. It

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<v Speaker 1>acts as a rudder when a muskrat swims. There are

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes staken for their rodent cousins, beavers, which are also

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<v Speaker 1>semi aquatic. However, beavers are larger than muskrats, about the

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<v Speaker 1>size of a small golden retriever, and their tails are

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<v Speaker 1>horizontally flat like a paddle. For the article this episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on, has to Fork spoke with Margaret Gillespie,

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<v Speaker 1>a naturalist with Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in New Hampshire.

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<v Speaker 1>She said beavers and muskrats are both gnawing rodents, but

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<v Speaker 1>beavers build dams that result in ponds where muskrats can live.

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<v Speaker 1>Swimming is muskrats forte and they are fast. They can

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<v Speaker 1>paddle up to three miles an hour that's five kilometers

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<v Speaker 1>an hour. Their large hind feet are partially webbed and

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<v Speaker 1>act as oars. They're also able to stay underwater without

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<v Speaker 1>taking a breath for up to twenty minutes. You can

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<v Speaker 1>find them in any type of fresh water, including ponds

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<v Speaker 1>and lakes, but they prefer marshes with lots of vegetation

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<v Speaker 1>and a steady depth of at least four to six

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<v Speaker 1>feet that's one to two meters of water. They're swimming

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<v Speaker 1>skills make up for their poor vision, hearing, and sense

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<v Speaker 1>of smell. Muskrats are native to most of North America

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<v Speaker 1>south of the tundra. Marshes provide muskrats a full menu

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<v Speaker 1>of food, which is good because they eat about a

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<v Speaker 1>third of their body weight every day. They typically eat roots, stocks,

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<v Speaker 1>and cattails, with a few frogs and insects thrown in.

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<v Speaker 1>In the winter, they swim below the surface ice to

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<v Speaker 1>get to roots, because unlike beavers, they prefer food fresh

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<v Speaker 1>and don't store it away for the cold months. Flaps

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<v Speaker 1>in their mouths behind their teeth keep water from getting

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<v Speaker 1>in while they're eating. Muskrats use mud and vegetation to

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<v Speaker 1>build dome shaped lodges on tree stumps or anything that's

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<v Speaker 1>partially submerged in water. Their lodges can be up to

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<v Speaker 1>three feet that's one meter tall and contain dry chambers

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<v Speaker 1>that the animals live in. They help them keep cool

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<v Speaker 1>during the summer and warm during cold winters. Each lodge

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<v Speaker 1>will have it least one underwater entrance to a tunnel

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<v Speaker 1>extending out to dry land. Muskrats like to stay in

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<v Speaker 1>large family groups within their own territories. The female muskrats

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<v Speaker 1>are prolific childbearers and have one to three litters of

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<v Speaker 1>five or six kits every year. They nest in chambers

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<v Speaker 1>inside their lodges and have a gestation period of just

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<v Speaker 1>about a month. Kids are born blind, but they're quick learners.

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<v Speaker 1>They can swim at about twenty one days after birth.

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<v Speaker 1>Muskrat moms will kick their offspring out of the lodge

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<v Speaker 1>when they hit that one month birthday or if it

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<v Speaker 1>just gets too crowded. They can live as long as

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<v Speaker 1>ten years in captivity or about three or four years

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<v Speaker 1>in the wild. Muskrats are active at any time of day,

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<v Speaker 1>but are most active from mid afternoon through dusk. Muskrat

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<v Speaker 1>life isn't just one big swimming party among the cattails,

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<v Speaker 1>though there are many. Predators include raccoons, owls, hawks, fox

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<v Speaker 1>mink otters, and bald eagles, as well as humans who

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<v Speaker 1>trapped them for food, would and for fur. They're slow

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<v Speaker 1>on the land, which is why they stick to the

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<v Speaker 1>water so much. They're swimming skills often allow them to

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<v Speaker 1>escape predators, diving under water or hiding in their lodges.

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<v Speaker 1>Muskrats vocalize with a range of squeaks, chirps, and sort

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<v Speaker 1>of whiney sounds, which often serve as warning of nearby intruders.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's not their only form of communication, and this

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<v Speaker 1>brings us to how they got their name. Muskrats also

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<v Speaker 1>communicate by gland secretion. Gillespie said, rather than being malodorous

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<v Speaker 1>like skunk spray, it has a sweet smell. Its main

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<v Speaker 1>purpose is for scent marking to convey the animal's presence

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<v Speaker 1>in the area. Muskrats can be considered pests on farms.

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<v Speaker 1>Wild muskrats will eat stores of grain and sometimes plug

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<v Speaker 1>the drainage tiles and fields. And since muskrats also have

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<v Speaker 1>a habit of building their homes near dikes or dams,

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<v Speaker 1>the lodges can weaken the structures and eventually destroy them.

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<v Speaker 1>So when a bald eagle snatches up at muskrat for

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<v Speaker 1>dinner or a fur trader traps one, that actually helps

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<v Speaker 1>keep the population in balance and more dikes and dam's intact.

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<v Speaker 1>But back to that song, Muskrat Love. Although it was

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<v Speaker 1>first recorded in the early nineteen seventies by songwriter Willis

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<v Speaker 1>Allan Ramsay and covered soon after by the band America,

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<v Speaker 1>it didn't become a hit until pop duo Captain and

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<v Speaker 1>Tanil covered it in nineteen seventy six. It peaked at

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<v Speaker 1>number four on the Hot one chart that year when

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<v Speaker 1>they sang the song at a July nineteen seventy six

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<v Speaker 1>White House dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth the Second. A guest

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<v Speaker 1>who attended the dinner was later quoted as saying that

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<v Speaker 1>it was in very poor taste to sing about mating

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<v Speaker 1>muskrats before the Queen. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article muskrats are fat little rodents with a signature smell

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<v Speaker 1>on house to forks dot com, written by Meg Sparwin.

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<v Speaker 1>Rain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with house to works dot com, and it's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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