Back to the Basics - The Mighty Mushrat

If you are new to trapping, this first post is for those of you who are reading about trapping for the first time. The best way to learn about trapping is to trap with someone who is experienced and knows what they are doing. But if you are starting on your own. Congratulations. You are one of the few people left that want to learn the dying trade of trapping.

In this first post, I will do my best to give you an overview of the muskrat. The first step to trapping is knowing the animal you are going to set for, so I am going to provide you with some information needed to trap successfully. 

Hopefully you have seen one of these fuzz-balls swimming around a ditch or pond at some point. If not, that is a muskrat. Now muskrats are most often found in ditches with moving water, ponds, and swamps. They live in two different settings.
In ditches, riverbeds, or small ponds, rats will dig holes just below the surface of the water. These holes will lead directly into the bank, and the muskrats will dig out a small den in the bank. This is called a bank-den.


Muskrats will often build huts in the water that multiple rats are able to live in. They make them out
of mud, dirt, grass, sticks, and anything else their football sized bodies can carry. They make different types of huts, and you will trap differently at each one. Other than the huts where they live, rats make feed beds to sit and eat on. Nearby is usually a crapper. This a small hut where they will go to do their business. Distinguishing these different areas will help you choose which traps and sets to make.

When rats travel, they make paths called runs. These runs are like roads for muskrats; they will use them to get to various huts, or fine eateries. A run that has recently been used will be murky, with dirt stirred up. The same goes with the entrances to huts and dens. You will know how well used they are by the murkiness of the entrance, and how deep the entrance is. If you can feel solid ground on an entrance or a run when the ground is usually muddy, you know rats have been frequenting this area.

Stay tuned for another post on methods and traps when you are in the great outdoors.