Muskrats: A Glimpse into Their World

 Recently I had to good fortune to locate a family of muskrats in a location that lends itself well to photography.  Muskrats are both valued for their warm soft fur and detested for their burrowing that ruins man-made ponds.  This family of muskrats are inhabiting a stream where their burrows cause no harm.

Foraging and grooming as depicted in the following photos occupies most of the time muskrats spend exposed above ground.  Life is always uncertain for a muskrat as death can come at any time or place whether killed in its burrow by a mink or caught up by a passing eagle as it swims on the surface.  In the last photo you will see the pointed snout of a snapping turtle just breaking the surface.  When the snapper began lurking near the muskrat burrows the muskrat activity ceased, a sign that the muskrats considered the turtle to be a creditable threat.

 

 

 

 

Stream Sitting and a Lifer

With a heat wave blanketing much of the country my home area in South Central Pennsylvania was not spared.  Humid air and temperatures into the mid to upper 90's had us seeking either air-conditioned quarters or at the very least shady areas.

 

With the temperatures soring I decided to spend an evening stream sitting in a section of creek that boarders our family farm.  With a camp chair slung over one shoulder and the camera, tripod, and 600mm lens over the other I waded to where I could set up in a spot of shade with water deep enough to help keep me cool but shallow enough to allow for safe camera operation. 

 

Wildlife became active shortly after I settled in.  The first visitor, a muskrat, arrived and began feeding in the shallows.  While muskrats were plentiful here in the 1960's it has only been in recent years that I have again began seeing them with any regularity. 

A pair of Belted Kingfishers were busy flying up and down the creek, occasionally diving to catch prey from water below.  It was during one of these fly-bys that the female perched on an overhanging branch.
 

 

Male and Female Belted Kingfishers can be identified by the banding on their chest.  The male sports one blue band with the female usually displays two; a wide blue band with a thinner chestnut band below.  The female pictured here carries two chestnut or copper colored bands.

 

The most encounter of the evening was when I spotted a Red-headed Woodpecker clinging on a dead tree.  This was the first time I have observed and identified this species.

And what made it even more special was the immature woodpeckers that began to materialize as first one, then two and finally three young birds were spotted pecking about the tree.  Apparently this tree, which is riddled with woodpecker holes, has served as home to this family of woodpeckers.

While the kingfisher and the woodpeckers were too far for the quality of shots I prefer, the wildlife encounters and the time in the creek made for a refreshing evening in the midst of the heat wave.

Images from Blackwater

Blackwater NWR contains a vibrant wildlife community and much of the wildlife is acclimated to a degree of human presence.  This works wonders for the photographer since the critters do not flee at the first sight of humans.  This is not to say that one can approach closely as visitors are restricted and the wildlife is wild, unlike the birds found in city parks. 

The Canada geese tolerate humans at a distance; 80-100 yards seems to be their comfort range.

Small groups of geese took flight throughout the morning as they flew to the neighboring fields to feed.

Blackwater has both freshwater and brackish water habitat.  Muskrat lodges dotted the brackish water swamps.  Although we did not spot any muskrats during our visits their lodges indicate a substantial population.

Wetlands Morning: Muskrat Encounter

As the summer progresses the wetlands are in a state of constant change.  With no appreciable rain fall in well over two weeks the water level is receding rapidly leaving much of the previously flooded areas dry and baking in the hot sun.  The change of water level along with the vegetation growth forces me to change vantage points frequently.

This morning I chose a position overlooking a small pool that would be subjected to strong sunlight coming from my left once the sun rose.  Shortly after sunrise I spotted vegetation shaking about in a shallow portion of the pool.  A moment later I was able discern a muskrat swimming rapidly towards me with a bundle of leaves in its mouth. 

Photographing the muskrat continuously as it approached; the best shot of the session occurred as the rat turned to is right allowing the sun to light its head along with the leaves it was carrying.  Before I could trip the shutter again the muskrat dove out of sight; but not before leaving me with the my very best muskrat capture ever.

If this image had been the only good image I came away with this morning it certainly would have been a worthwhile outing.  Instead it was only the beginning of what was to be a very memorable morning spent in the wilds of the wetlands.

Camera Critters: Muskrats & Wood Ducks

My wildlife photography has been centered around the Wood Duck families in a local wetland lately.  Although the ducklings are the focus of my efforts other critters make themselves available for photographs.

This Muskrat swam right up to my feet as I crouched in hiding at the water's edge.  Realizing something was amiss; it looked up into my eyes and twitched its nose for a few seconds before diving to safety.

The Wood Duck babies are growing rapidly.

This particular duckling did not become alarmed upon hearing the camera's shutter, only mildly curious.

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Muskrat Lodge

Muskrat lodges are uncommon in my area; this is the first one I have ever encountered locally. The muskrat populations here normally utilize stream bank holes so I was pleasantly surprised when I located this lodge during a recent outing.

The muskrats utilized an overturned stump to firmly anchor their structure, the roots of which can be seen protruding from the lodge.

This scene was photographed from a few inches above water level under a heavy cloud cover with light rain falling. The moisture helped to saturate the colors present in the scene as well as did the circular polarizer used to minimize the glare on the water.

Muskrat Morning

An early visit to a local wetland this morning proved fruitful. Shortly after arriving a muskrat swam from its underwater den entrance to a spot where the water was very shallow and began eating.

The click of the shutter concerned the muskrat who fled after only a very few photographs.

These images were shot on ISO 1600 in the dim pre-dawn light.

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Muskrats & Memories

During the photo session with the muskrats this one decided to be brave and leave the safety of the water. After walking only a few feet from the water’s edge it seemed to lose its nerve; stopping and watching me intently trying to figure out what I was while listening to the clicking of the shutter

Bringing a tidbit to the surface the muskrats were content to feed in my presence with safety only a quick dive away.

My earliest memories of muskrats are of my grandfather trapping a few each autumn from the creek that borders our family farm. From his stories he had trapped muskrats quite a bit in his younger days when the money he made from the furs was important to him and grandma as they tried to make ends meet during the great depression.

As a little kid I would tag along with him as he carefully concealed his Victor #1 long-spring traps at the bottom of muskrat slides with the trap wired to a rock placed in deeper water so as to drown the rat once it was caught. Granddad had a couple of wire fur stretchers and a few boards whittled into the correct shape for drying the fur. I can still remember the sweet musky smell of the drying furs and the tales he would tell as he skinned, fleshed and stretched the pelts.

One of his favorite tales was of one particularly tough depression winter. He often spoke of those times, as he and many of his generation never forgot how difficult the Great Depression was. He told how that as long as they were able to keep the interest paid on their farm mortgage that the bank would not foreclose and in that particular winter the fur from his trapline provided the money to cover the interest.

To this day I when I encounter the little water rats they always bring back the long ago memories of granddad’s trapping and his stories of how he and grandma, a young couple with a recently purchased farm just starting a family, coped with the hardships that the Great Depression threw their way.

Wetland Muskrats

Another highlight of my morning visit to the wetlands was the opportunity to photograph the muskrats.

Muskrats are most active in dim light and during the hours of darkness making photographing them problematic however on this morning they were very active late in the morning.



After watching the muskrats swim about at the other end of the remaining pool I decided to reposition during one of their visits to their den. The move paid off when shortly after getting reset this muskrat surfaced near my position.

The little critter wasn’t overly alarmed by the sound of the cameras shutter but did soon submerge in the muddy water.