Common Muskrat Gallery

	White Claws This was the first time I had seen a muskrat out of the water, and even from a distance I was startled to see how long and white its claws were. In this picture, it has splayed out its front paws so that you can see each individual finger and the long nail on each one, as well as the nails on its right rear foot. The picture was taken in a quiet backwater channel on the Kiwa Trail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, Washington.
	Mmmm ... I don't know what type of plants these are, but the muskrats love them. During the spring at Ridgefield NWR, you can commonly see them either eating the plants where they stand or swimming with a bunch back to their den. Their eating approach seems to be as seen here, to take a stalk and feed it into their mouth with their two front paws.
	Although the introduced nutria is far more common in the Pacific Northwest, I knew this was something else the moment I saw it by the different way it carried itself in the water. As it got closer, I realized it was a muskrat, the first one I ever saw in Oregon. It was carrying these large fronds in its mouth as it swam towards its nest, so that it looked like there was a giant plant swimming through the water.
	Having dropped off the fronds in his burrow, the muskrat swims back to gather more as night approaches.
	Not Worried About the Rain When your body is built to withstand being in the water frequently, the Pacific Northwest's rain showers aren't a bother. This muskrat was swimming in a narrow side channel when the rain turned from a drizzle to a shower.

Another picture of a muskrat eating the plants that grow near the pond and channel edges at Ridgefield NWR, but this time it is standing on dry ground just a few inches from one of the channels. You can actually see a bumble bee flying just above his body, something I hadn't noticed at the time.

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