Muskrat Scat and Tracks: How to Identify Them (Ondatra zibethicus)

Rodent droppings are small and dark; shape and size are the first cut (rice-grain with pointed ends for mice, blunt and larger for rats, oval pellets for squirrels and voles). Tracks show four toes on the front foot and five on the hind, and most rodents bound, so the larger hind prints land ahead of the front prints. Gnaw marks with paired incisor grooves are often the clearest sign. The measurements below for Muskrat are quoted from the wildlife agencies linked at the bottom of the page.

• Size: Small in volume
• Shape: Oval-shaped
• Contents/color: Black to dark green
• Where: Deposited at a fixed latrine spot after coming ashore

• Front: Front footprint about 1.5 inches long, usually showing 4 toes (the thumb-like toe occasionally shows too), narrower than the hind footprint
• Hind: The hind footprint is larger than the front, about 3.5 inches long, 5 toes
• Toes: 4 toes on the front foot (a thumb-like toe occasionally shows), 5 toes on the hind foot
• Gait: Often accompanied by a thin tail-drag mark

• Lodges/push-ups and feeding platforms: Builds a lodge from aquatic plants in marshes and other shallow/low-water habitats, up to 4-6 feet in diameter; also builds smaller feeding huts or feeding platforms
• Bank burrow: Muskrats living in deeper water often dig burrows into pond or ditch banks

The Muskrat's tail is thin, nearly hairless, and flattened vertically; the Beaver's tail is wide and flattened horizontally The Beaver page has its own sign list.

Put something of known size next to it (a coin, a pen, a boot) and shoot straight down in soft light; low side light brings out the shape of tracks in mud or snow. For scat, photograph the whole deposit and one close-up showing contents. Note where it was: on a log, in the open, on a trail, near water. The app suggests the likely animal; confirm with the size and shape notes above.