Muskrats

Here's something I thought I had shown earlier in the summer, but apparently I overlooked them. For a little while in mid-June I was seeing Muskrats at Duke Farms, more specifically at Duke's Brook near the entrance.

I suspect that Muskrats are fairly plentiful in central NJ even though I don't see them a lot. I'd probably have to skulk around freshwater wetlands with lots of vegetation to see them more, but even then their ability to swim underwater and to hide in vegetation would still make them challenging to spot. Prior to this, my last sighting of Muskrats was along the canal at the Raritan River Greenway.

The last time I saw Muskrats at this location was nearly 5 years ago. It's conceivable that these are the same Muskrats since their life expectancy in the wild is in the 4-6 year range. It seems more likely that these are different Muskrats thought.

June 16, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 211722764, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)




Comments

  1. sillig1August 9, 2022 at 1:28 PM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjqeNoi6EmM

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jpvioletteAugust 22, 2022 at 11:45 AM

      You know, when I read the lyrics and see "skinny", "shimmy", "whirl", and "twirl", I get the impression of a more lithe animal. And then I see the part about eating bacon and I think about a carnivore. I wonder if it's possible that Sammy and Suzie were actually otters. :O

      Delete

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