When the ice was going out, we noticed something down by the shore. As we got closer, we were able to see that it was a muskrat. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to one in the wild, and so I found it fascinating.
I couldn’t figure out what it was eating and it took awhile before I realized that it was eating clams.
In this next picture, it has opened the shell and is pulling the clam out of the shell. It did this fairly quickly, and then would have another clam in its paws ready to open it.
Each spring we have piles of clam shells near our beach in the water. I always blamed it on raccoons but now I see that there is another culprit.
Apparently they can stay underwater for up to 20 minutes and swim up to 5 km per hour. It didn’t take long for it to swim under the ice to another opening – at first, I wasn’t sure if it was the same one or not.
I can see why they have the “rat” at the end of their name, because they can certainly look like one. However, it would be a very big rat – about 22 to 25 inches long. The first part of their name “musk” is from their smell. I must have been far enough away from it not to smell it.
These (creatures) all look to you (God),
to give them their food in due season.
Psalm 104:27
Interesting !! Thank you.