2022 Midsummer Issue

WORDS OF
A FEATHER
Scan the QR code
with your phone’s
camera to hear a
muskrat.
Muskrat Love
Summer is in
full swing on
Lake Hopatcong.
And nothing feels
better than the
long, languid, sunny days.
Boats of every type jauntily cruise along,
and the water has warmed up enough to make
swimming a delicious pleasure. Slipping into
the lake, particularly after a long day trapped
indoors at work, feels like bliss.
On days like this, you seem to gain sustenance
from the water and never want to stray from
the lake.
If you can relate to any of that, you may not
know it but you have quite a bit in common
with some of the lake’s furrier swimmers:
muskrats.
When I lived at Lake Hopatcong in Mount
Arlington, I’d often see them swimming around
docks, either in the early mornings or evenings.
They’d glide along with most of the top half
of their bodies visible above the waterline,
always silent but giving the impression of being
constantly busy. They plied the water, it seemed
to me, with purpose.
I got curious about them, so I decided to
focus this month’s column on these small
mammals. Turns out they’re pretty fascinating.
Who knew?
Native to North America and found across
most of the continent—from the Arctic to the
south (but not in Florida where I reside!)—
muskrats are large rodents. Surprisingly, they
are more closely related to voles, lemmings and
mice than to that other semi-aquatic mammal,
the beaver.
Muskrats have quite a round shape, with tiny
ears, short Tyrannosaurus rex-like forelimbs
and a continually active, quivering nose.
Their dark brown fur is dense and luxurious.
Consequently and unfortunately, they are still
killed for their pelts—usually in cruel traps that
drown them.
Fur is not a fabric, and compassion is in
fashion, folks. Remember, fur only looks good
on animals, not on people.
38
by HEATHER SHIRLEY
Photo by KAREN FUCITO
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Midsummer 2022
A muskrat scampers along the dock
at Lee’s County Park Marina.
Muskrat fur traps air, which both warms
them through frigid winters and helps them
float.
Muskrats range in size from 16 to 25 inches
long, including their odd tails. Used like a
rudder when swimming, their 7- to 11-inchlong
tail is vertically flattened and is covered in
scales.
Their hind legs are also unique. Their feet
are not webbed, as I would have expected since
otter and beaver feet are webbed. Instead, a
muskrat foot looks a bit like a tiny hand, with
each toe edged with a fringe of stiff hair that
helps the foot function like a paddle.
Muskrats swim with their feet much like
we do, alternating kicks from their left and
right legs. They can swim both forward and
backward, as fast as 3 mph, and can hold their
breath for up to 17 minutes.
Not impressed yet? Keep reading—muskrats
and their marvelous adaptations may still
surprise you.
Muskrats are quite social, living in large,
territorial family groups. They communicate by
marking entrances to lodges with a strong scent
secreted from specialized glands. It is for this
scent, or musk, that they are named.
They must live near water of at least 4 to 6
feet in depth and either excavate burrows along
the banks or construct lodges, also called “pushups,”
in the water. Made from mud and aquatic
vegetation like cattails, these constructions are
used by other animals and birds as spots to rest
and/or nest.
Because bits of their watery homes can float
Call Jim to buy or list today!
House Values
James J. Leffler
Realtor
RE/MAX House Values
131 Landing Road
Landing, NJ 07850
201-919-5414 Cell
973-770-7777 Office
jimleff.rmx@gmail.com
away or be eaten by the muskrats themselves,
they are constantly rebuilding, thus consuming
more lake-clogging vegetation. They are
voracious feeders, eating one-third of their
body weight in vegetation each day. In this way,
muskrats help keep waterways clear, providing
ducks and other birds with open space to float
and feed. All that foraging results in underwater
trails that the muskrats travel daily, searching
for food and rarely straying more than 150 feet
from their home.
They know their territory so well that they’re
able to find food every day, year-round, even
under ice and snow, and even in the dark.
Yet another adaptation of muskrats is a
mechanism known as regional heterothermia.
This system regulates blood flow to the
muskrat’s feet and tail so that those areas are
cooler than their core, thus helping the animals
maintain body heat in cold water.
Muskrats have even evolved to be able to bite
and chew underwater; their incisor teeth stick
out from the rest of their mouths, and their
lips and cheeks can close behind the teeth. In
this way, they don’t take in water as they nibble
roots and stems.
In addition to plants, muskrats eat just about
anything, including fish, snails, crustaceans,
salamanders and mollusks. In turn, they
are heavily preyed by a vast range of species,
including coyotes, bears, snapping turtles and
even pike.
But, like most rodents, they reproduce
frequently, producing up to three litters per
year of three to eight kits each. That means your
chances of seeing a muskrat are pretty good.
I hope the next time you see one near your
dock, you have a newfound respect for them
and that you show that muskrat some love.
James J. Leffler
Realtor