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Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver #6545345
05/28/19 12:10 AM
05/28/19 12:10 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,262
Mt.
g smith Offline OP
trapper
g smith  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,262
Mt.
Any sure fire way to to tell if it is a rat swimming or a beaver. some times it is very clear other times not (for me that is ).


You can ride a fast horse slow but you can't ride a slow horse fast .
Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545348
05/28/19 12:23 AM
05/28/19 12:23 AM
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 45,263
james bay frontierOnt.
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Boco Offline
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Boco  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2011
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james bay frontierOnt.
Very easy.Rats will make ripples from the tail.The rat uses its tail like a scull.
Also a rat will look like it is swimming faster(it kicks a lot faster than a beaver).


Forget that fear of gravity-get a little savagery in your life.
Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545404
05/28/19 07:17 AM
05/28/19 07:17 AM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,932
NY
R
Rat_Pack Offline
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Rat_Pack  Offline
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R

Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,932
NY
To me the ears are more pronounced on a beaver

Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545422
05/28/19 07:48 AM
05/28/19 07:48 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,444
Wisconsin
Muskrat Online content
trapper
Muskrat  Online Content
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,444
Wisconsin
Reminds me of an event in Yellowstone National Park years ago. We were rolling down the highway inside the park, alongside a lake and one of its bays, when we came upon 20-30 vehicles pulled off the side of the road and everyone out on the lake side of the road pointing and looking at "something." So, yea, we were tourists, we pulled over, walked on over to the group, and I asked what we were all looking at. Someone said there's a buffalo swimming towards us. So I looked out there, and sure enough, there was certainly something swimming towards us.

I went back to the truck and got my binoculars, took a peek, handed 'em to Susan, said looky there, there's a buffalo swimming towards us. Meanwhile, the crowd now determined the critter was not a buffalo, but a beaver swimming towards the shoreline. Susan looks at me and says it's a muskrat, not a buffalo, and not a beaver. So I said to a couple of 'em standing there it's a muskrat, not a beaver.

One lady asked what a muskrat was. I said it's a baby buffalo. And we walked back to the truck.

Boco hit it on the head with the ripple marks from the tail.

Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: Boco] #6545426
05/28/19 07:52 AM
05/28/19 07:52 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 19,930
SEPA
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Lugnut Offline
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Lugnut  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 19,930
SEPA
Originally Posted by Boco
Very easy.Rats will make ripples from the tail.The rat uses its tail like a scull.
Also a rat will look like it is swimming faster(it kicks a lot faster than a beaver).


Yep, because of the way they use their tails for propulsion, a swimming rat will be making ripples like it’s got a small outboard attached to its rear end.


Eh...wot?

Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545508
05/28/19 10:04 AM
05/28/19 10:04 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 9,733
Northern Illinois
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MChewk Offline
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Posts: 9,733
Northern Illinois
Can't even tell you how any times clients will say, "I saw a beaver in the creek we need you out here!" Or "You need to come back out as we saw a beaver swimming."
Muskrat mis-identification can be troubling....lol

Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545509
05/28/19 10:05 AM
05/28/19 10:05 AM
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 829
NE NE
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Wife Offline
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NE NE
When looking from an elevated vantage point the TAIL on the 'rat is making the S SHAPE when swimming (as stated for propulsion). So if you ever see a beaver doing that with their flat, muscular, scaly tail,,,, I would switch medications!

Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545542
05/28/19 12:06 PM
05/28/19 12:06 PM
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 873
WV Fla
River Birch Offline
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River Birch  Offline
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WV Fla


The Tail Slap is a dead giveaway! lol

these are two quick ones.... Muskrat tail wiggle is a good thing to look for as mentioned above...











,.,.


Lifetime Member NJTA...WTTA Caught the bug in 1979
Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545616
05/28/19 04:03 PM
05/28/19 04:03 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,262
Mt.
g smith Offline OP
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g smith  Offline OP
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,262
Mt.
Thank you all that helped set me strait .


You can ride a fast horse slow but you can't ride a slow horse fast .
Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: g smith] #6545697
05/28/19 06:34 PM
05/28/19 06:34 PM
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 8,116
Manitoba
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Northof50 Offline
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Northof50  Offline
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Posts: 8,116
Manitoba
The 17 can usually tell for sure.
+ on the nose.

Re: Quick ID on swimming Muskrat or Beaver [Re: Northof50] #6545700
05/28/19 06:38 PM
05/28/19 06:38 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,981
Rock Springs, WI
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Zim Offline
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Zim  Offline
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Rock Springs, WI
We are not allowed to do that in Wisconsin.
In these warmer climes the blood draws in the sharks.

Zim

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