On a tour of frozen Lake Appert earlier this week, my wife Patty and I counted at least 10 muskrat structures.
Marsh Warden Stiles Thomas says he has never seen so many Muskrat lodges on Lake Appert.
Why the muskrat boom? One theory: Muskrats love catttails, and the removal of the Purple Loosestrife allowed cattails to proliferate.
As you can see from the photo above, the structures come in different
sizes and, by one account, come in two varieties, lodge and feeding
station.
Click "Continue reading..." for more information on Muskrats and their structures.
Made of mud and reed, the muskrat structures can typically be found at the edge of the phragmites. They appear on the lake in the fall and are used by hibernating 'skrats in winter.
In the photo of Pirie Platform below, you can see a muskrat lodge in the lower left-hand corner.
We are hoping that Patrick Scheuer of Lorrimer Sanctuary can talk a little about these amazing creatures in his talk for Fyke Nature Association at the monthly meeting on Friday.
More on muskrats and muskrat lodges here.
