Muskrat Decline??

[SamPAtrapper]

Especially you in PA....have you noticed many if any muskrats anymore? I know I haven't been on this plannet very long...but from what I hear....there are hardly any muskrats compared to what there use to be. Still have a pretty good population around here...but mostly in pockets. I would really like to do a study on muskrat populations in my future forestry/wildlife career....and also work on maybe improving the exhisting habitat for muskrats...as well as introducing them into new habitat they dont currently exhist.
;D

[acewoodsman]

several yrs ago i was trapping a small creek that i usually took alot of rats from i noticed there was nun then i noticed there was no minows no creyfish so i talked to the fish n widlife about it ,they did some research an found that a gas station's tank was leeking up the creek from there made them dig it up an replaced it, now there's rats minows creyfish mink ect back in my creek again

[wolfpaw]

Two years ago,I trapped 2 big marshs caught around 180 rats.last year took around 125,this year had more traps out ,only ended up with around 80.
Man I hope this isn't a trend starting.


Wolfpaw

[Admin]

When I first moved here we had a hug marsh across the road. I only got to trap it for a couple days and then it froze over. There were more muskrats out there than I had ever seen in my life. The stupid town guys came and pulled the dam. The rush of water blasted out all the dams downstream and the whole fricken waterway has been mud for the last couple years and is unaccessible

Fricken highway department

[muskrat24]

In my area we have muskrats but not in any great numbers.

[woodsman416]

Muskrats numbers are way down from when I trapped in the early eighties. I attribute the decline to the increasing predator population. The muskrat is at the very bottom of the mammalian food chain. Just about everything eats it. Back in the '80s, there were some fox around but not nearly what we have now. Same with mink. More importantly, I think the raptors have had an impact. Redtailed, sharp shinned and coopers hawks are everywhere. Great horned owls & osprey are common now. I even have a couple of bald eagles in my area. It's though for a muskrat to get a break.

[johnporter]

Nov 11, 2008 10:20:15 GMT -5 woodsman416 said:

Muskrats numbers are way down from when I trapped in the early eighties. I attribute the decline to the increasing predator population. The muskrat is at the very bottom of the mammalian food chain. Just about everything eats it. Back in the '80s, there were some fox around but not nearly what we have now. Same with mink. More importantly, I think the raptors have had an impact. Redtailed, sharp shinned and coopers hawks are everywhere. Great horned owls & osprey are common now. I even have a couple of bald eagles in my area. It's though for a muskrat to get a break.

That plus all the pollution we have added for the past 25 yrs.

[jace22101]

it doesnt help that they are easy to catch and in my area anything easy to catch is as good as dead some these guys will trap shoot every thing that as fur on it till there is no more i trap rats one season but when everybody started talkin bout the low numbers i figure i wasnt gonna help make them extincted

[jtpickens]

Ever since the Stonewall Jackson dam became fully functional and started letting water out the muskrat population has decreased but on the plus side fishing in the West Fork has gotten better and the increase in the hawk population hasn't helped the muskrat either.

[adampotaczek]

We have been seeing a decline for years in WI. Some areas have come back but still very low numbers. I have been wondering about this decline for years as have many. We all know it is almost impossible to trap out rats. For years trappers took the same amount of rats out of an area year after year. I don't know what to think about the predator and raptor theory. We have always had predators and raptors and if you can't trap out a good population of rats how could predators cause such decline. I think it is a habitat issue, or a reproduction issue. Is a chemical or poison making the rats sterile? Is the water polluted or does not provide what they need? Some think it is pesticides and herbicides. I don't know but I wish the DNR would show some concern other than deer all the time.

[minktracks]

Being from PA I will say this question is debated every year. I know Pa started to study the decline years back. I have never got the results. You might look into it.

[stickbowhntr]

I think a BIG reason for decline is loose of habitat. New methods of farming and plowing into the ditch for field crops has greatly reduced the suttable habitat. Now with the increase in Hawks and even new pesticides they rats just dont have as much a chance.JMO

[shu9265]

Rat populations in my area of WNY have been seriously depleted.

I attribute it to piss poor management of the 3 wildlife area's we have here.

In the spring, there is water every place. I was out there yesterday and most of the area is dry as a popcorn fart !

These so called managers are doing a terrible job of managing this very valuable resource that we have.

Hopefully some day they will wake up before it's too late.

[330conni330]

here were im from we got alot of rats but the places i trap i dont try to trap all the rats out i let a few live to have more rats and then take some more out next year the places i trap theres more k9 andfox and coon its not even funny

[jazzyrabbit]

Sam I am with you, this past year their wasn't a muskrat to be found, on my way to work all winter I kept watching all the ponds that I passed & not a single track. Last year we had people calling us from all over to catch them. Also the pond across the street we caught 5 before we even finished setting all the traps there.. this year there wasn't anything (we did find out the neighbors boys shot some over the summer) I am just baffled, I think they heard that I was looking to start cooking some muskrat meat & they skiddadled... I hear they are good eatings!

This past year I have only seen 3 or 4 so far, I pray they multiply fast!!