Muskrat Encounter at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge

March 27 keeps turning into my muskrat day at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Late morning, I made one last loop of the auto tour road before heading home.

As I crossed the Sally Jones Causeway, I noticed a bunch of ducks on the south side of the road. Then I caught a second movement near the waterline and had to take a closer look.

A lucky stop on the Sally Jones Causeway

When I backed up, the surprise was a muskrat perched on a log, calmly working on a mouthful of underwater plants. It sat close to the road, and it did not seem bothered by my truck or the camera out the window.

This was exactly one year after my first muskrat encounter here, on March 27, 2023. That earlier story is here: First Time Photographing a Muskrat

And the very next day in 2023, muskrats showed up again. That post is here: Muskrats Steal the Show

Wildlife Notes: muskrat behavior and habitat

This muskrat stayed focused on feeding. It used the log like a little dining table and kept pulling plants up from the water.

In general, muskrats spend a lot of time around shallow wetlands where they can find vegetation to eat and cover to hide in. Seeing one right along the road like this always feels like a gift, because they can slip out of sight fast when they want to.

Quick muskrat facts from the field

Here are a few muskrat basics I like to keep in mind when I spot one:

• Mostly plant-eaters: Muskrats mainly eat aquatic plants such as cattails, water lilies, and pondweed. They may also eat small aquatic animals if the chance comes up.
• Busy breeders: Females can raise multiple litters per year, with several young in each litter.
• Marsh shapers: Their feeding and burrowing can create openings in dense marsh vegetation, which can help other wetland wildlife. Large numbers can also cause problems around dikes and levees.

Photography Notes: filming from the road

I filmed and photographed this muskrat from my truck on the auto tour road, using the window as a stable rest. Late-morning light can get bright and contrasty on the water, so I try to expose for the fur and keep an eye on glare.

Closing

I love these simple, quiet moments, a wild animal doing its thing while I get to watch for a minute. If you want more muskrat stories from this refuge, the two earlier posts linked above are a fun pair to read right after this one.