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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 144 Likes: 1
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 144 Likes: 1 |
Just noticed we have a new member of the pond, a muskrat! i am wondering if I should be concerned about it or not?? We have a 1/2 acre pond with bluegill and LM bass and channel cats. Does anyone have a problem with muskrats? or are they just another member of the cast?
Last edited by Funky; 12/12/15 03:06 PM.
half-acre pond, LMB, HBG, BG, GSH and CC ....goal is to
have fun fishing. And I subscribe!
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080 Likes: 1
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Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 6,080 Likes: 1 |
I would not be happy to see them. Where there is one, unless he is just passing thru, there can soon be a whole bunch more. They will undercut your shore line and damage a dam if you have one. They are mostly vegetarian but when food is in short supply I have read they will dine on small fish.
Just my 2 cents
Last edited by Bill D.; 12/12/15 03:14 PM. Reason: Clarification
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,979 Likes: 14
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,979 Likes: 14 |
Muskrats are usually regarded as undesirable pond residents. See if you can locate a run, which would indicate he or she has taken up housekeeping. Either way, run or not, I would probably remove it.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 733
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 733 |
Dam ruiners! They have done damage at our place before. Haven't seen one in a while. We no have a mink.
Water is the basis of all life, by design!
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 368
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 368 |
Do you have dogs? I've never had problems with any mammals marauding my pond (as far as I know). Today a heron was headed for my pond, and one of my dogs, who has always been quite alert to birds, started barking at it, and it turned around and went back whence it had come. But that was just one time out of I don't know how many. Those birds are a real problem.
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,794 Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,794 Likes: 68 |
I'd take out the Muskrat ASAP...IMO absolutely nothing positive can result from their presence, and you'll have a potential management issue on your hands once a breeding pair gets going - it's colony city and much harder to address.
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau ![[Linked Image from i1261.photobucket.com]](http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii582/teehjaeh57/I_subscribe_zps69249d43.gif)
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,722 Likes: 282
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,722 Likes: 282 |
In addition to burrowing, a muskrat colony will increase until emergent plants are wiped out. We are fortunate to have a neighbor who traps. Last count was 2 dozen rats trapped! He removed about that many last year too.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,502 Likes: 827
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent  Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,502 Likes: 827 |
Muskrats are burrowers, making their home back from the shoreline above the water line. They will dig under ground back 10' or so from the pond edge. Over time, the burrows will weaken and eventually collapse. A person walking along the shoreline or a mower can collapse the burrow.
The possibility of a sprained ankle, etc. are there, as well as possibly tipping over the mower towards the pond.
All not good scenarios.
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