I'm just curious about this. I have tons of little ponds and slews and what not that I think the little critters would thrive in and not be much of a problem if any . Only other thing in them are the odd snapping turtle snakes and all sorts of leaches and other creepy crawlies. I know their native to Mississippi but I don't think I've ever seen one. If it was legal how well would they do with being stocked ? Anyone ever do this ?

Do you have nutria in your area?

I think theres a small and I mean really small pocket on one property close to town.. but I think their a bit more destructive then rats

Back in 30's and 40's a couple of enterprising Oregonians applied for lease rights for some shallow lakes in eastern Oregon and brought in black muskrats from New York. I remember reading about that in Game Commission reports of the era. No idea how it panned out.

So it's not a new idea anyway.

They dig dens in pond dams, eventually they will leak and drain the ponds. No one I know wants muskrats in their ponds.

Was done here.

Little reading material on Walter Gibbs
Book on him available too.

TMan's own Bad Karma can likely give you more details.


http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/2014/02/09/building-a-better-muskrat-trap/5291043/
https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,758578,00.html

https://www.trappingtoday.com/walter-a-gibbs-trapper-inventor-entrepeneur/

They're fun to catch but not worth it. They can multiply quickly. They take over quickly and dig holes in pond dams and banks and make them erode. I don't think they would have any issue being stocked. I don't know the laws behind it but live trapping them and releasing them is the best idea.

Hmm thanks everyone. Most of these little places don't really have dams . More l es they where old dipping ponds. Remind syou of just a big ditch level with the ground. There's also a few creeks that have nothing but trash and turtles.

Again, I literally have tried for this same exact reason and my state will not let me do it legally. Muskrats in our states Wolf as far as all the old timers told me never caused any issues, they all want to see them come back.

Fur Fish Game magazine has an ad for books for sale by A R Harding's Pleasure &Historic Books .One of the books offered for sale is titled Practical Muskrat Raising It is 136 pages and sells for about $5.00

I would think if you could stock them, it would already have them there. In other words, something is killing them, or they would be there already.

The only rats I ever traded were for a friend. They were destroying his lake, the lake I got married at and was just across the street fron my house.
. I got them all quickly and saved his lake without realizing the damage they can due. Later I saw the destruction they can cause.
I would not introduce them. They may not be a problem for you but could become problems for your Neighbors.

In the early 80's I guided trout fishermen on a big spring creek in NE California. Before the war, a guy had imported muskrats and built a big operation to farm fur. His place was on a big lake that was fed by the spring creek and other springs. They eventually escaped and totally changed the biology of the county. They now inhabit almost all of northern CA in the low country and they were never there originally. They ate all the willows, caused bank erosion in all the flat waterways, and messed with stock pond dams.

The ranch I lived on had a trapper who took over 1000 rats a year for many years off of 4 miles of river. I was on the water 100 days a year and you never would have known he trapped one.

I'd think twice about introducing something like muskrats, even if it was legal.

JMO.

Pete

I don't play the stock markets.

If rats can thrive there, they will be there.

Moved a bunch out of the golden triangle to the Black Hills some 40 years ago for the State Trapper out there relayed them across the state with the help of other State Trappers along the interstate. Colony traps in shallow waters then 5 gallon pails of water and weed plants for the trip.

Agree we go for years not seeing any here if we get a few wet years they are all over the area until it dries up again. Funny the places you think they would be found in when it dries up (spring fed pond) don’t hold any either.

Places that several houses in the good years but have no houses in the bad years you think some would be found there.

Lots of farm man made ponds and dikes here, they roll chainlink fence on the banks well into the water as muskrat guards. Then cover with pond stones. All the golf course water hazards I built were banked with fence then covered.

Following as it's something I've wondered about as well.

A couple years ago i stumbled on to some sheet metal cages marked live muskrats with a label marked with W.A Gibbs name on them. I posted some pics of them on tman then. ended up donating one to Tom Parr at th trap museum in ohio. I cant seem to figure out how to post pics now