As I was walking along the boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park on Monday, a lady with binoculars around her neck vigorously motioned to me and pointed downwards. A muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) was foraging in the vegetation almost directly below the raised observation deck on which she was standing and she correctly assumed I’d be interested—it might have had something to do with the enormous zoom lens that was prominently attached to my camera.
I don’t see muskrats very often, so it was a treat to get a relatively unobstructed view of one. The muskrat used its “hands” to hold the leafy vegetation as it delicately nibbled on its lunch. The muskrat seemed so prim and proper that I almost expected to see it use a napkin to wipe its lips when it was done.
From this overhead angle, the muskrat looked a bit like a beaver, but the undulations of its long, thin tail as it swam away left no doubts that it was a muskrat.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I have never seen or heard of this creature! Amazing, Mike!
Thanks, Chris. It’s nice to be reminded that the common species in my area are not necessary common (or even present) elsewhere.
Impeccable table manners! 🙂
They are great nibblers – I get to see them quite often. I think they are wonderful but I often seem to get less response from muskrat photos and wondered why.
I seem to recall that you did a posting once about the muskrat’s need for a better public relations manager. I think the biggest problem is that many people can’t get beyond the “rat” part of the name.
That sounds about right.
What a very cool encounter. I love that you have captured its little hands. I have never seen a muskrat in the wild.
Muskrats and beavers coexist really well and I have read somewhere that they sometimes even share the same lodges. I don’t see them very often, but fortunately, unlike beavers, they are active during the daylight hours.
Very cute! Nice shots. I particularly like the variation of color you captured in the fur on it’s back.
Thanks, Sally. I think that the color variation was caused in part by the muskrat moving in and out of the water.
Muskrats are common here but are rarely seen. This one seems to have no fear of humans and if you have a camera, that’s a great thing!
The muskrats are pretty skittish here, but we were on a raised observation platform about ten feet above the ground, so I am not sure the muskrat was aware of our presence. I think the situation is pretty much the same here as there in the sense that the muskrats are not commonly seen, though probably are common.
super shot! This one doesn’t seem too shy.
Very cool! I’d never seen one before!