March 1, 2009 - Muskrat Love

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

A song about aquatic rodents made the Top Ten back in 1976. If you are old enough to remember The Captain and Tennille, then “Muskrat Love” might come to mind, particularly if you visit a pond or marsh this time of year. Muskrats begin their mating season in March. Contrary to the song, however, theirs is no candlelight romance. These aquatic rodents, typically active at dawn and dusk are busily searching for mates even during the day. Muskrat courtship actually includes the pair whirling and twirling in their version of an aquatic tango. They touch noses in what might be interpreted as a muskrat version of a “kiss.” You might actually hear chirping sounds of a courting female, simulated fairly accurately by a synthesizer in the pop song.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.