Muskrats - Ann Arbor

Muskrats have been spotted in Ann Arbor. Discuss.

Muskrats in the news

Cork & Fuzz : Short And Tall, Dori Chaconas. "The friendship between Cork, a muskrat, and Fuzz, a possum, is in trouble when Cork decides that since he is older, he has to be taller than Fuzz."

Muskrat Manor, AroundAnnArbor.com. Photo of a muskrat mound on Hubbard Pond.
Jan 2009 brochure from NAP notes muskrat habitat in the lagoon at Furstenburg Nature Area.
Along the Huron: the natural communities of the Huron River corridor in Ann Arbor, Michigan, U of M Press 1999; "they build numerous mounds along the river and in marshy wetlands".
A list of the mammals and birds of Ann Arbor and vicinity, Steere. "23 Fiber zibethicus Muskrat Builds its nests in the mill pond and along the river. Quite a part of its food is fresh water clams (Unios) which it opens with its sharp teeth. Every spring heaps of several species of these shells can be found on the banks of the river."

Ondatra zibethicus, University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
Ondatra zibethicus. Snyder, S. A. 1993. Ondatra zibethicus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2011, February 4]
Effect of Muskrat Mounds on Microbial Density on Plant Litter, by V. Jean Wainscott, Christopher Bartley and Patrick Kangas (JSTOR) © 1990 The University of Notre Dame. Abstract: "Microbial densities on plant litter from muskrat mounds and the surrounding marsh floor in a Michigan marsh were compared." Survey work was done in Swift Run Marsh.
Vegetation on Muskrat Mounds in a Michigan Marsh, by Patrick C. Kangas and Gary L. Hannan © 1985 The University of Notre Dame. Abstract: "Muskrats construct mounds of marsh vegetation as lodges for overwintering. We studied the vegetation on muskrat mounds to determine whether the mounds support qualitatively or quantitatively different plant communities than does the surrounding marsh."

Muskrat and the Early French Settlers, in Repast, the official publication of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor. Recipes originate in Monroe County.
Muskrat love: Friday Lent delight for some OKed as fish alternative, Catholic News Service, 2007. "The Detroit Archdiocese communications department said there is a standing dispensation for Catholics downriver – in Detroit's southern suburbs and below – to eat muskrat on Fridays, although no documentation of the original dispensation could be found."