As the pond starts to melt I have noticed some holes around the pond and I am assuming they are muskrats. I have been throwing my dead HBG that I have been finding on the shore and I noticed a pile of eaten fish-minus the head by one of the holes. What is my best way to get rid of the muskrats?? Could I just by a small trap and put the dead fish in the trap or wont the muskrats enter it?? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Dave,
It sounds more like you have an otter as opposed to a muskrat. I would check into michigans laws for killing otters.

Yep. Muskrats are plant eaters.

Oh boy-an otter??? how do I get rid of otters if I can't kill them??

Dave

just keep feeding it fish and it wont do you any harm. heck it will probably become your best friend.....

on a more serious note, you just might have to get creative on this one, its one of those grey areas.

will they go into a steel small game trap if I put fish in it or do I need to try something else

Muskrats will eat fish. Baiting with apple slices will likely work better.

http://www.nhptv.org/NatureWorks/muskrat.htm

If you have musk rats eating your winter kill fish, try placing one into a box trap if you have one. You might have muskrats and otters, double the fun! We sometimes have muskrats come in to feed on the left overs of our gutted fish. I doubt they catch fish, but they won't pass up a dead one. I have also seen them eating clams and crayfish before as well.

Or maybe a mink.

Put some fine mud or silt around the entrances of the holes and any game trails. Check frequently for animal tracks. You could have anything from otters to raccoons. You have to verify what you have before you determine how to get rid of it/them.

One things muskrats very rarely do is leave visible holes to thier dens. Most of the entrances are underwater, if not all. They may have a ventilation hole to the den but that is normally very well hidden. Although they will eat a fish here and there, they prefer aquatic vegetation, especially cattails and reeds. Muskrats can be a disaster to your levees, embankments and dam, but not really a big fish eater.

Five star moles are worse. I can attest to that! I had one go 12 feet right though a dike separating two ponds last year! The muskrats I havem have bored 4 or 5 feet tops, usually less.

I got my first muskrat of the year with my air rifle. Apple baiting with a trap has not worked yet. I observed a few days in the evening and they came out quite often. I could see them swimming along between the shore and the receding ice. Finally hit one, but there is another one swimming around.

Do you have lots of cut cattails and plants at the water's edge? This is a great sign of muskrats.

apple baiting worked in the live trap! hauled one out of the pond. That is two down, a bunch to go.

i shot 3 in my pond last year in the early spring. i would see them late evening swimming around usually carrying reeds. i walked up on one boring a hole in the bank. he was kickiing up all sorts of muddy water. i knew he couldnt stay under forever. sure enough he finally came up and went swimming along the edge. it's the otters that worry me. i have caught 2 in the last 2 years ( one each year) below my pond while trapping beavers. i caught them on dam crossovers in 330 conibears.