Winter Larders

I found a few of these piles of vegetation heaped up above the water's surface in a shallow cove in November of 2021, and have since discovered that they're the winter larders of muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus), which remain active all winter long.


These untidy looking mounds of dried vegetation serve a very important role for muskrats during winter. They gnaw through the ice cover to access their prepared above-ice larder, where they can feed while sheltered and warm in their ingenious pop-up lodges.

It does look pretty untidy, but up close it shows some artistry and skill.


This setting is quite picturesque. 


During September of 2022, I saw what I surmise to be the beginnings of a new larder, with lily pads being draped over the top of this stump before it is covered over with woven grasses.