Muskrats
If you own a pond, and didn’t either install it properly or have it installed
properly, you will eventually have to deal with muskrats. When putting in a pond
it is a good idea to line the banks with fist sized gravel, limestone or crushed
granite. This should cover the bank from the top, and continue out into the
water approximately 4 feet. This will keep the muskrats from making tunnels back
into the bank where they make their borrows to live in. Once you keep them from
being able to borrow into the bank, they leave and locate elsewhere. Now if your
pond doesn’t have this stone barrier, I suggest you consider putting one in
place. It is possible to use plastic covered wire fencing to stop them also if
installed properly. You can get plastic coated chain link fencing and a lighter
weight plastic coated fencing with 1" X 2" openings. Whichever you use, it must
cover the bank from top to bottom and continue out into the water 4 feet. You
can’t just lay the fencing there, you must stake it down so the can’t get under
it to borrow. The times I’ve done this I made very large staples out of heavy
wire and drove these into the ground to hold the fencing in place.
Now. If you don’t want to go to much trouble, locate a trapper and give him/her
permission to trap your entire property (provided you live on enough property to
make it worth it to them.) Provided they concentrate on removing the muskrats.
It you don’t live on large acreage your best bet is to offer a bounty on every
muskrat they catch and show you. Of course these people can only trap during the
trapping season, provided they have the proper license/s.