Hello everyone,

I have a 1 acre pond stocked with trout that also had largemouth bass. This year, a muskrat has been causing lots of trouble in the pond, and it needs to be removed. It has been here in previous years, but we've let it be. Finally, it's causing too much damage to be left. Firstly, it chewed and broke off our floating dock. Secondly, it chewed up all of the dock foam creating a huge mess around the pond. Thirdly, it chewed up the wood under the dock and made a nest or home under it. The dock required a major overhaul. The final thing it did was chew on the cord to our aerator, causing it to no longer function and require repairs to the cable.

There is at least one muskrat that we need to remove, possible more. I am wondering if anyone has advice as to what can be done to remove them. I would, preferably, like to not kill them, especially since I will have to follow local regulations. Is trapping with a raccoon one door trap a possibility? I've read up on it online and it seems apples can be used as bait. Is there anything else that can be done? Anyone's experience or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

There are trail traps made for rats, but they are made to drown them. They are made so more than 1 can get in the trap. Now if you find a trail in the water and set it so they have a small amount of room to get air it won't kill them. You could also call game warden and see if you could get a newsant permit. Muskrats are a pain but what you are telling us does not sound like a rat, more like a beaver.

I set a HavAHart trap baited with apple slices after the muskrats invaded my pond this summer.

Caught nothing.

We shot five of them. The rest became extremely wary after that.

Conibear 110s are going in this weekend.

Thanks for your reply. Are you only able to place trans underwater for them to be effective? I did get a good look at the rodent and it was a muskrat. We have beavers around here as well, but luckily haven't had one in a few years. Thanks.

That was the plan, apples in a trap. I might give it a try and see if my muskrats will enter. The regulations are strict here so I'd like to keep them alive if at all possible, but of course your method sounds effective. Thanks for the reply.

I doubt taking them out alive will be very effective.
When you give up on the kinder-gentler approach...

The Conibear 110 traps, as mentioned, will be what you are looking for to get the job done. I highly recommend using the Stabilizer brackets with them for proper placement and best results (see below).

https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Water-B...071V94QR4/ref=psdc_3413451_t2_B071KX7FB5

This time of year, the water level should be low enough to expose the runways and entryways into the banks. Just place the Trap/bracket directly in their way.

I used a live cage trap baited with a whole apple staked to the ground with a metal rod to keep them from stealing the bait. Was after damaging beaver, but caught 10 muskrats. Still had plenty left though.

Depending on the water and bank conditions in your pond, you should be able to see where the bank den is located. If you take a walk around the pond looking out in the water, there will be a small hole going into the bank with a "run" or small depression leading into it. Active runs will usually have a cloud in front of them from the muskrats stirring up debris/silt when entering and exiting. A 110 conibear or a colony trap (the trail trap as described above) placed in front of that opening is almost a guarantee. If you can't find that opening, there will usually be spots along the bank where they are entering and exiting the water either at a toilet or going up for food. An active trail will commonly have the appearance of slicked down mud, although if its only a small number of muskrats using it there may still be some vegetation there. A small foothold placed down in the water at the base of the trail, or a 110 conibear placed at any point in the trail with vegetation on both sides as a natural pinch point is best there. If you can't find either situation, you can create a "trail" set with your hand and place an apple or other bait at the top of it with a foothold in the water. Note that muskrats will often roll when caught and can actually break off the caught foot and get free so access to deep water is important so they can drown. If deeper water (6-12" is usually all it takes) isn't available, place a stick n the mud 6-12" behind the foothold to tangle them.

They are a lot easier to relocate effectively when you catch them in a conibear trap,, they don't migrate back to your pond as quickly or destroy somebody else's pond that they were relocated to. jmo

I just used a live catch trap because I already had one.

I would call the local game warden or whatever they are called up there and explain all the property damage that it's done, have a dollar figure as to what it cost to fix the damage. You might be able to get permission to kill them because of the $$ in damage that they did, as live trapping them is extremely difficult.

I doubt it's only one, the young ones are kicked out of the "nest" in the Spring when momma is getting ready to have another litter. You will probably find 3-7 living in one underground den.

Yup - they breed like rats:)

The are a pain in the butt. They have to dig on the side that its closest to the border. The other side they could dig for ever. One thing no more cattails. Keep putting more rocks in the holes.

I will definitely look into those traps. A call to the ministry of natural resources (Canada) will help me find out what's legal, as I'm not a big hunter or trapper myself.

This is great advice. I'm going to attempt this method just to see if it works, and I hope it will.

Thanks for the advice. If I go the conibear route, I'll definitely do that. I actually know where they live, or at least the rough area, as I saw them swimming to one corner and never popping up multiple times. They used to live under our floating dock, but we ripped out their nest and vegetation and they have moved.

I didn't realize how many there might be. I will call the local ministry of natural resources and ask them what can be done. The damage has definitely been in the thousands of dollars, as half the dock needed to be overhauled, plus getting people in to fix the aerator.

I also should have mentioned, the pond is across the road from a swamp/marsh, so it's hard to keep any mammals from not coming in. I wonder if a more long term solution is possible.

Find a trapper.

sad thing is muskrat fur prices are pretty darn low but they are easily trapped

"marsh rabbit" is good eating. So there's that.

So, yesterday, we added a thick metal grate over a half sunken drainage culvert we believe they are living in. It is connected to a marsh across the road which the muskrats must be coming from. It's easy for them to simply swim through the pipe and get to the pond. This should help, but I'm guessing they can just cross the road as well. We are looking into bringing in a professional to take care of the muskrats. Regulations are very strict here. Thanks again for all the help.

They won't "live" in a half sunken drainage culvert. They need a dry area to sleep in, and that typically is an area that has an underwater entrance to offer protection from terrestrial predators. Yes, they will walk across dry land to get to another BOW, but prefer to swim. They swim to escape from predators and that is hard to do on dry land. Watch that the grate doesn't plug during a high water event and cause the pond to overflow.

If the water flows out of your pond into the marsh through the culvert (and its size is small enough), you could install a rat guard (swings out of the way during heavy flow). I have them and also have muskrats. They do travel over dry land.

If you believe the culvert is an entryway, that would be the first place to put a trap.
They just don't come back from that big pond in the sky.

My last resort would be to call the wildlife officials. That equals a free pass onto your property whenever they want. Up to you but just not my thing. I've used the conibear with success.

Thanks for your reply. They must just be using the culvert as a entry and exit from the swamp. The swamp mostly dries up in the summer, so I think they come over to the pond this time of year. High water is very uncommon, fortunately, as we run irrigation from the pond and there are two drainage pipes, but I will make sure that the grate doesn't plug up and cause a flood.

We will look into this, thanks.

I fully understand that. The issue is, this is a pond with other landowners on it, so things will get complicated if any illegal methods of trapping or shooting are used. We will try and bring in a professional to take them out, by whatever means they think are best. The damage they will do long-term will cost much more than bringing in a professional.

I also had problems with wildlife. Rodents must be crawling up the drainpipes and gnawing on them, I was afraid there would be a flood. And in both ponds, I noticed something wrong and read on the Internet how to get rid of them, but I did not try it better and decided to trust the masters in the company https://treasure-coast.aaacwildliferemoval.com/raccoon-removal which perfectly coped with their task. They explained to me the reason and that this is really happening in my region and now it is good that they no longer appear and also gave instructions on how to get rid of them themselves, if there is no need to contact them, tho.