northeast-flora-and-fauna

Last March I briefly met this Muskrat who appeared to be foraging in the river on the outskirts of Duke Island Park. I don't encounter Muskrats all that often, though sometimes they seem fairly tolerant of humans. As always, I try and get a look at the tail to make sure I'm not seeing a smallish American Beaver . This Muskrat swam past me twice and didn't seem very concerned about my presence, making it much easier to get some pictures. They do have lodges similar to beavers, though it doesn't sound like they store food in them like beavers do. They don't hibernate, and it sounds like they generally forage for food throughout the winter, though in a pinch they might eat part of their lodge. (This sounds like a desperate measure to me, trading off shelter for food.)  March 16, 2023 at Duke Island Park Photo 267709653, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an American Beaver I met on New Year's Day. (Like most of you, I spent New Year's Day looking to get some nature pictures. 😉) With a name like American Beaver, you've probably guessed that there are non-American beavers out there, and you'd be right. Eurasia has its own beavers, the aptly named Eurasian Beaver . Together they comprise the true beavers . (The beavers don't like to talk about the Mountain Beavers , which are really more closely related to squirrels.) Relationship confusion isn't limited to Mountain Beavers either; despite being the 2 most well known aquatic rodents in North America, and despite some visual similarities, they also aren't particularly closely related to Muskrats .  I met this beaver at the tail end of a fairly uneventful walk at Duke Island Park. As I was approaching the pond near the parking lot I saw something brown that I couldn't identify. A bush shouldn't have been that dark. My 1st (very distant) look ...

This was one of my favorite animals that I spotted this year, a North American River Otter . I believe it was on August 20 that I first glimpsed them at Dukes Brook. Unfortunately I couldn't wait around that day to get a picture because I was scheduled for a volunteer shift as an Outdoor Educator. When the shift was over I went back to the brook but was unable to find them again. (I suspect they had moved someplace quieter.) A few days later I was back and looked for them along Dukes Brook. The 1st 3 spots I checked showed no signs of them, but at my 4th spot along the brook I struck paydirt. At least 2 otters were romping in and out of the water, fitting since a romp is the collective name for a group of otters. River otters will mostly eat aquatic animals, including fish, crustaceans, reptiles, and amphibians. Waterfowl are also taken if they can get close enough. Muskrats are on the menu; reports vary about whether beavers are taken. My guess is that fully grown Common Snappin...

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)

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I saw a group of Muskrats; here's another one in a setting they're very comfortable in: the water. (You didn't think I was going to meet a bunch of Muskrats and only show you on picture, did you?) It's unclear that there's a collective name for Muskrats; this webpage says they don't have one, and Wikipedia doesn't list Muskrats . Even though they're not closely related to either, if you wanted to use a collective noun for them I guess it would be best to use family or colony (beavers), or colony, horde, or mischief (rats). Muskrats eat a mostly vegetarian diet, though some small invertebrates, fish, and amphibians supplements it a bit. Unfortunately for Muskrats, they're on the menu for a lot of predators, including mink, foxes, coyotes, lynxes, bobcats, raccoons, bears, cougars, wolves, wolverines, eagles, snakes, alligators, and the larger hawks and owls. For juvenile Muskrats, you can add otters, herons, ...

I almost forgot that I've got Muskrat pictures; here's one that I met a little over a month ago. I saw these guys splashing around in the canal by the Raritan River Greenway, but photography opportunities were limited since they were moving a lot, including swimming underwater. Then this little fella climbed out of the canal and began eating a few feet away from me. Another one came out and did likewise, albeit a little further away. I was suspicious they might be young Muskrats who didn't know they should stay away from the humans. Though associated with (and sometimes mistaken for) the North American Beaver , and despite "rat" being in their name, they're not particularly closely related to either beavers or rats. Their closest relatives are lemmings and voles. (All these species are rodents though.) May 10, 2021 at the Raritan River Greenway Photo 128959337, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)