Good luck, Leslie! Thanks for this helpful comparison of otters vs. No vegetation there. Had never seen a mammal so far out in the mud. Too small for an otter, tail too skinny for a beaver. As the tide started to come in, it dragged its way, heavy with mud, back toward shore and out of sight. Had not seen a mammal so far out in the mud before. As the tide started to come in, it dragged its way, heavy with river mud, back toward shore and out of sight.
Loved the comparisons article, thank you. Still at lost as to what we saw up at Tetons along a river yesterday. I would say there was a beaver dam near and this critter popped up out of the water and bobbed for a bit kind of waving at us as if he was standing on his back legs in the water.
Watched us as we tried to get a picture…a fuzzy one is all we got. I still say otter by his actions and I think skinny but your timeframe says it is too early. My husband says a beaver so I have come to call it the critter viewing. Thank you for the wonderful info And pictures that described so Well, every creature that I have been researching. They are all so very interesting, in their own right.
I would like to write about them. Thank you again. Dear Max, Thank you so much for this! My cousin saw an otter one day, which threw us into a frenzy of trying to sort out the differences. Great article, Max!
I cam across this when researching the differences between a nutria and muskrat. Muskrats are a lot smaller than a nutria, with a thin vertically edged tail. A nutria, is bigger than a muskrat and has a snout like a beaver but no protruding ears.
Great article. Watching a lone creature waddle up to the small pond in my back yard this morning, I assumed it was a muskrat. But then I got more curious, knowing there are river otters in this county I found your article.
The seem to head to my pond nearly every fall sometimes staying for the winter. Thanks for all the helpful info and wonderful pictures. Its head looks similar to a seal with ihe whiskers. Hi Trudy. Based on your description of the predatory behavior, it definitely sounds like an otter! It really looks like a little beaver with a skinny tail.
Oh that dog used to bring me such bizzare things. He had a turtle he brought me alive for several years. I always knew it was the same one because it had bite marks on the shell. Based on your article I am guessing River Otter. Consequently I had no time to focus. Jamestown Island James River. I would love to have confirmation or correction on my guess from someone with more experience.
Thanks for the great information. Our house on a lake in Nova Scotia is frequently visited by beavers, and I have to cage our small trees to keep them! A few days ago we had a the head of a large fish catfish, I think left on our dock and wondered how it got there.
We thought maybe an osprey dropped it. Well today we found the culprit — an otter! Never seen one here before, quite exciting. Very cool, John. Some day soon, I hope! Thanks for the great write up about these aqautic animals. Considered a Beaver but did not see any evidence of chewed vegitation around this lake as I have seen at other locations.
I actually saw the Muskrat breach, probably going after a small fish, and I had remembered Beavers were Herbivores so had honed in on Muskrat but you post confirmed it. BTW I know a Waugh family personally. I really enjoyed this excellent comparison, and your beautiful photos. It is well-written and helpful. I have questions about behavior of otter vs muskrat. I have seen both muskrat often , and beaver occasionally , in the pond near my house south central Maine.
Today I think I saw an otter. I thought it was a muskrat, at first. It raised its head and neck vertically out of the water. Sometimes it dove like a porpoise, but at other times it disappeared backward into the water — rearing up, and sinking straight down. It also seemed more active, as you mentioned, and more curious. Usually the muskrats just scram as soon as they notice me. This critter stayed around, repeatedly rising up, diving, and reappearing, looking in my direction, while moving past the dock where I was sitting with my dogs.
Sometimes it swam with head and tail showing, and a few times I saw its body as well. Stephanie, it definitely sounds like an otter. The fact that you could see the head and neck periscoping out of the water like that is a pretty good clue.
Most of the time they remain flat in the water. Otters, however, are long enough and have the body control to get a higher viewpoint while treading water if necessary. This was so helpful, thank you! Thank you for your photos and tips. I live in eastern North Carolina, where we have nutria, an invasive species, along with otters.
Any tips on distinguishing between the two when they are swimming? I am guessing that the clues you gave for muskrats and beavers would apply to nutria. Bryan, the nutria is larger than a muskrat but smaller than a beaver… but really, it looks like a cross between the two in some ways. Look for the narrow, bare tail like the muskrat , larger facial features like the beaver. The very long, bushy whiskers may be another giveaway.
They seem to be more prominent than those of the other two. Today in South Jersey on a 10 mile kayak run in the first three miles we kept seeing the same little face looking at us from behind some sticks close to the bank in the water. Too curious to be a beaver? I thought otter, bc face grayish in color, also, I was able to make eye contact with it and it was non aggressive. Beaver usually slap tail or hit bottom of the kayak.
Do otters make a soft chitter sound? Hi Vi. Water voles look like plump mice. They live along streams in western North America, where you may be able to see their defined trails.
They are the largest North American vole, have large hind feet and are adept swimmers. Let me know if you have! Any time you are near fresh water, keep an eye out for these mammals. You have a better chance of seeing many of these animals today than you would have 50 years ago. Enjoy them, and support conservation efforts that protect clean water, wetlands and free-flowing rivers.
Please note that all comments are moderated and may take some time to appear. You are indeed correct! That is a muskrat and somehow I missed that.
I corrected it—and added a note that our very own photo archive had this misidentified. So useful, so enjoyable. But never mind that. What a joy to see our freshwater wildlife in photos and run their comparisons side by side. Thanks Matt! The mink I saw was black, but the face was just as cute.
I love to see wildlife, but never will I kill any. We live beside a small public lake in the Sierra Foothills east of Sacramento. This evening at dusk we saw the beaver, two initially, for the first time! Found this article to confirm our siting and it did.
The head and nose made the positive identification. The lodge is a mound of tree limbs and branches. I watched a pair scurry about a shallow bank… the chase, face to face, front to back… taking it to be muskrat love. My husband captured a photo of a Western Pond Turtle sunning on a stray floating plank, close to shore, as a muskrat swam up, boarded it and nuzzled its way to the edge as the turtle slipped off.
River otters made the scene after a five year absence, delighting us with their antics and precision fish catching skills. I once watched an otter on an exposed rock formation eating a fish while another approached. Expecting a fight, I was surprised to see the host offer the fish to its mate. What is this mystery animal?
I am from Iowa and last night about p. I was walking from my workshop across the driveway to my house which the outside lights were on shining down from the eves and I saw a large rat-like much bigger than any rat I had ever seen animal walking right across my driveway in front of my garage doors. I have never seen a muskrat that far away from water.
Thought we saw a really big muskrat in the Finley wildlife refuge. We looked at pictures we took. The keeled tail of a muskrat can be clearly seen undulating behind the body while swimming, whereas nutria tails remain still.
Nutria also have orange colored teeth not found on muskrats. The presence of nutria can also be confirmed through the sign they leave. The first three toes of the hind foot are webbed leaving a diagnostic track. They build burrows, and platforms of floating vegetation inches wide and inches above the water. The thick, waterproof coat of the river otter, like that of the nutria, was valuable in the fur trade.
The North American river otter range extends from Alaska and northern Canada down to the south-western states. The species was exterminated from large areas in the past because of uncontrolled trapping. River otters now have been reintroduced to much of the eastern United States.
The diets of these two animals are about as different as possible. Like many rodents, the nutria is omnivorous. River otters are true carnivores, eating mainly fish but also small amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates. Both animals are semiaquatic.
0コメント