Let's draw a muskrat. Muskrat (photo): The funniest and most unusual inhabitant of Russian rivers What does the Russian desman eat?

The Russian muskrat is an amazing animal that has been comfortable on planet Earth for more than 30 million years. As in past times, so today appearance This river animal, which resembles a small rat and belongs to the mole family for its ability to dig deep holes, has not changed at all.

Russian muskrat: description

Still the same, trunk-like, long nose, paws with membranes between the toes, compressed from the sides a long tail, covered with horny scales and is an excellent steering wheel on fast and sharp turns. The Russian desman has a well-streamlined body; its belly is silvery-white, its back is brown.

This coloring makes the animal almost invisible in the water, successfully camouflaging it with its environment. The fur is quite thick and does not get wet, since the animal uses its hind legs to lubricate it with musk, produced by special glands located at the base of the tail. The Russian desman's eyesight is not good; its deficiency is fully compensated by its excellent sense of smell. Although the muskrat's hearing is well developed, it has some specificity. She can completely ignore people's conversations, but shudder at the slightest splash of water, a twig crunching under her foot, or a rustle in dry grass.

Burrows are the favorite places of the Russian desman

The Russian muskrat, which prefers to live in places with quiet currents (lakes and creeks), loves to dig holes, complex and long (over 10 meters). In the convenient banks covered with forest vegetation there are entire labyrinths of underground tunnels, the entrances to which are hidden under the water column. When the water level drops, the animal is forced to lengthen the underground passages, again leading them under the river surface.

The Russian desman also makes short burrows with a camera and damp bedding, where winter period replenishes air reserves when moving under ice. The chambers in the burrows are mainly used for resting and eating.

What does the Russian muskrat eat?

Food for the Khokhuli (as the Russian muskrat is affectionately called in Rus') in spring, summer and autumn period serve leeches, crustaceans, aquatic insects and their larvae,

In winter, the Russian muskrat will not refuse a numb frog or sedentary small fish. Whole mountains of food scraps sometimes accumulate near the burrows - exactly what the animal needs: plenty of food and a good body of water with convenient places for burrows. Sometimes the daily weight of what is eaten is equal to the weight of the animal.

Caring for offspring

The muskrat can produce offspring (from one to five babies) twice a year. The cubs, whose weight does not exceed 2-3 grams, are born tiny, blind and naked. True, after two weeks their body is already covered with hairs. On days 23-24, the mother begins to introduce them to the outside world. In a month, the animals cut their teeth, they taste insect larvae and shellfish meat.

The female, a wonderful and caring mother, is helped by the father in caring for the offspring. If the adults leave the hole, the babies are then carefully covered with a “blanket” of plants. When danger approaches, the mother carries the babies on her back to a calmer place. By 7-8 months, the grown-up offspring become independent and leave their home.

Dangers at every turn

The lifespan of a muskrat is about 5 years, provided that it is not shortened external factors. And these can be unexpected winter rises of water, flooding holes in which entire families can die. Surviving individuals are forced to float to safety, or urgently dig temporary holes in safe places. The muskrat, deprived of natural shelters, finds itself in plain sight, which makes it accessible to birds of prey, raccoon dogs, foxes, and minks. It is in the spring that the muskrat moves to neighboring bodies of water, changing familiar environment habitats that she is looking for nearby (maximum 5-6 km from her old home).

In the water, the Russian muskrat faces danger from pike perch, pike, catfish and large ones. summer period the animal may not be able to withstand a long journey to a more favorable place and die along the way. Even in your own burrow, there is a danger of being harmed by the hooves of wild herds, which easily damage burrows located near the surface.

The muskrat successfully shares its habitat with beavers, sometimes using their trenches and burrows. Mutual respect is clearly evident in the relationships between these animals. A fact was even noticed when a muskrat climbed onto the back of a resting beaver, which the latter bore completely calmly.

See a Russian muskrat

Many curious people are interested in what the Russian muskrat looks like, because it is quite difficult to see it with the naked eye: it is very careful and sticks its nose to the surface of the water (in order to breathe) early in the morning or in the evening hours. The closed way of life of an animal does not provide a full opportunity to penetrate its secrets, no matter how great the desire. It is very difficult to determine exactly where the Russian muskrat lives. Interesting facts were noticed by shepherds: in the places where this animal’s burrows are located, cows refuse to drink water. The living hole of a muskrat is given out by a persistent musky smell, which is why this animal was hunted until the mid-17th century. In Rus', dried muskrat tails were used to put linen in chests of drawers; a little later, the secretion of musk glands began to be used in perfume production as a scent fixer for expensive perfumes.

The existence of the muskrat is negatively affected by massive illegal fishing using steel nets and electric nets, which destroy not only fish, but also aquatic invertebrates - the main food of the muskrat.

Poaching is the main danger for aquatic animals

The most valuable fur of the Russian muskrat has become the reason for poaching of this animal, which sadly affected its numbers. In 1835, 100,000 skins of this animal were exported to a fair in Nizhny Novgorod, in 1913 - 60,000. Predatory extermination of river animals took place over many centuries, so today the Russian muskrat (the Red Book confirms this fact) is found only in a few places announced protected areas. This is the basin of the Ural, Don, Volga rivers, or rather certain sections of them. On this moment According to expert estimates, the number of Russian muskrats is approximately 35,000 individuals.

Anthropogenic human activities are also responsible for the decline in animal numbers; this is deforestation, development of the banks of water basins - the original habitats of the muskrat, pollution industrial waste river waters, drainage of reservoirs. Even the usual presence of a person on a pond is the reason why the Russian muskrat feels restless. and Ukraine on its pages recorded the existing problem of the Russian muskrat population, for the rescue and preservation of which special Oksky and Klyazmensky were created.

Muskrat(Desmana moschata), a mammal of the muskrat family of the insectivorous order (Insectivora). The physique is dense. Length 20-22 cm. The neck is short. The head is cone-shaped, with an elongated, movable nose - a “proboscis”. The nostrils have valves. The eyes are vestigial. There is no external ear. The limbs are five-fingered. The fingers to the claws are united by a swimming membrane. The tail is long (18-20 cm), compressed laterally, covered with dark brown skin with a scaly pattern and sparse coarse hair. At the bottom of the tail there are glands that produce a fat-like odor with a strong and persistent odor. musk , which Muskrat etc. serves as a good lubricant that protects the wool from getting wet, and, apparently, a means of orientation under water. The fur is soft, silky, very durable, dark gray-brown on the back and silvery-white on the belly. Muskrat well adapted to aquatic environment. Very ancient relict species, endemic on the territory of the USSR.

Natural range Muskrat limited to the basins of the Volga, Don and Ural rivers. Leads water image life. Usually inhabits only floodplain waters. Lives in burrows that have access under water. It feeds mainly on animal foods, as well as plant foods. Prefers aquatic insects and especially their larvae, gastropods, leeches. Females give birth to 1 to 5 cubs.

Has no natural enemies. Dangerous enemies Muskrat became muskrat and American mink, acclimatized in the USSR and released within the range. Due to changes in the landscape of floodplains (cutting down trees on which Muskrat waits out the flood) and the destruction of the American mink and muskrat Muskrat is rapidly shrinking. Well-organized and strict protection of the species is necessary. In the past, a valuable commercial species.

Lit.: Borodin L.P., Russian muskrat, Saransk, 1963.

L. P. Borodin.

Classification

View: Russian muskrat

Family: Moles

Squad: Shrews

Class: Mammals

Type: Chordata

Subtype: Vertebrates

Dimensions: body length: 18-22 cm and tail about the same length; body weight: up to 500 g

Lifespan: 4 years in the wild, up to 5 years in captivity

The muskrat is one of the strangest and most mysterious species of animals, on the verge of extinction.

Modern photos This animal may become the last in nature if efforts are not made to preserve this amazing species.

Finding a high-quality photo of a muskrat, much less seeing it in its natural habitat, is becoming increasingly difficult.

This amazing and very strange animal is rapidly dying out. Whether our descendants will see it in nature is a big question.

Looking at the photo, it seems that the positive and eternal smile never leaves the face of this animal.

Habitat

The muskrat, also known as the khokhulya or simply the Russian muskrat, is an endemic species, that is, living in a narrow territory.

Mostly in Russia (the basins of the Ural, Don and Dnieper rivers, in the upper reaches of the Volga), but also in some areas former USSR- in Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

In fact, the fur only seems wet from the outside - it is just a thin film of water, under which it is dry and warm

Unlike many other mammals, this underwater inhabitant does not hibernate in winter: activity remains at the same level.

Moreover, in winter months work is literally in full swing to raise a new generation of cubs, which... By the way, it happens again in the summer.

Interesting! The name “khokhulya” comes from the obsolete verb “khukhat”, that is, “to stink”. This is due to the musk odor released by the muskrat's scaly tail.

Nutrition

The muskrat eats a lot - up to a volume equal to own weight per day! The animal is an excellent hunter, despite its natural blindness.

Long whiskers-vibrissae are main source signals coming from outside about the outside world and the movement of potential prey, among other things.

The species is positioned as an insectivore, but in practice the diet is much richer. In summer, the khokhulya eats leeches, river insects, and gastropods.

In winter, he manages to catch small fish and partially switches to a plant-based diet.

To find food, this furry hunter carefully examines the bottom of the reservoir with his amazing nose and digs up the mud with his paws. The prey is brought to a hole or a safe place, where the hunt gives way to a meal.

A good catch is the river mussel. But it's just a light snack

The “water moles” themselves often become victims of more large predators:, foxes and stoats, as well as birds like the kite, golden eagle or marsh harrier.

The list of dangerous enemies of the small waterfowl is long. However, the biggest danger is not in predators, but in animals such as mink.

They displace muskrats from their places natural habitat.

Reproduction

The mating season for muskrats begins during the spring flood.

Sexually mature individuals (about 11 months old) create pairs just at the time when they leave the flooded burrows.

These days, the silence on the river banks is broken by the loud chirping of males and melodious sounds, which are published by females. Tough battles between males are common.

Couples are formed at the time of a general disaster - the flooding of familiar homes

Pregnancy lasts about 50 days. One female gives birth to no more than 5 cubs. Sometimes there is only one.

The babies are hairless, in addition they are blind and completely helpless. They need protection, for which the mother makes a nest from bottom plants.

The cubs weigh about 3 g and grow in conditions of very low temperature and incredible humidity. Muskrats breed in May-June and November-December.

Males remain nearby with the brood. After only 4 months, babies become adults and completely independent.

Interesting!In case of danger, the female can transport the cubs to another hole on her own back.

Relationship with a person

As already mentioned, man's main contribution to this species is its destruction. Once upon a time, the khokhulya was a commercial species.

The reason was the musk secreted by the glands on the mammal's tail. Until the 17th century, this factor remained the only one due to which the animal was mercilessly exterminated.

This allowed the population to increase. From 1940 to 1957, trapping continued, and then was banned again. Now it was possible to catch Khokhulya only for the purpose of resettlement.

Man has become the main culprit in the disappearance of this relict species, and today zoologists are making great efforts to preserve it

Considerable work has been done in this direction. Muskrats were populated in areas where they had never existed before. Nature reserves and sanctuaries were created.

Today, work to preserve the rare relict species continues.

Most of all in Russia, the endemic is found in the areas:

• Kursk region;
• Smolenskaya;
• Bryansk;
• Tambovskaya;
• Ivanovskaya;
• Kostroma;
• Yaroslavl;
• Vladimir regions.

The maximum number of individuals (about two thousand) lives in the Kurgan region. In Siberia, the number of species in last years dropped to critical levels.

There is no specific data on keeping muskrats at home.

This is not difficult to understand from the description of the mammal’s lifestyle: it needs a lot of food, a special microclimate, a place where it can dig a large hole or trench, as well as a reservoir.

This photo is very rare. This is due to the secretive lifestyle and the low probability of meeting a representative of this species in nature.

But the animal is still bred in captivity - zoological parks have such experience.

There it also increases average age animals compared to their counterparts living in the wild for an average of one year.

Thus, there can be no talk of any home maintenance. Except in cases where all necessary conditions, but it’s impossible to do this in a city apartment.

Today, scientists have a great responsibility on their shoulders: the task of preserving the muskrat in its natural habitat.

If you don’t make every possible effort, then in 50 years children will only learn about this funny waterfowl from documentaries and those few photos that can be found on the Internet.

Muskrat: The most unusual inhabitant of rivers

The muskrat is one of the strangest and most mysterious species of animals, on the verge of extinction. Modern photographs of this animal in nature may become the last if efforts are not made to preserve this amazing species.

The muskrat is a fairly well-known animal, but mainly due to its sonorous name. In fact, few people can boast of having seen it in nature. The animal leads an extremely secretive lifestyle, staying either in a hole, the entrance to which is hidden under water, or in the water itself.

Just imagine a creature covered with thick silver fur, with long nose, similar to a proboscis, with a laterally flattened scaly tail and webbed, clawed paws. At the same time, this is a relic of ancient fauna that has survived to our time almost unchanged. The Russian desman (Desmana moschata), or as it is also called, khokhulya, is a living monument of nature, a species belonging to one of the oldest groups of mammals, representatives of which have been known since the Oligocene (about 30 million years ago).

Currently, there are two types of muskrats, belonging to two genera. One of them is the Pyrenean muskrat (Galemys pyrenaicus), which lives in the mountainous part of central Portugal, as well as along the Pyrenees mountains separating France and Spain. Another species (Desmana moschata) is endemic to the European part of the former USSR, not found anywhere else in the world, and therefore has every right to be called the Russian muskrat.

Pyrenees muskrat

The animal looks quite unusual. The rolled body, reaching a length of 20 cm, turns into a conical head, ending with a stigma extended into the proboscis. On the upper jaw there are two greatly enlarged strong incisors, which functionally replace underdeveloped fangs and with which the muskrat crushes mollusk shells. The hind legs are longer than the front legs and are equipped with swimming membranes.

The tail is flat (compressed laterally) and scaly; The hair is silky, dark brown on the back, silvery-white on the belly. For the sake of this last, very thick, warm fur, muskrats were hunted for a long time.

In the photo above: a muskrat carefully emerges from its hole.

The muskrat is the most valuable fur-bearing animal, the skin of which was valued higher than that of the beaver, although the latter is several times larger in size. But it should be noted that its fur was appreciated only at the end of the 17th century; before that time, the animal was hunted only for its musky smell.

Where does the muskrat live?

The original range of the muskrat occupied a significant part of Europe. In the Pleistocene and early Holocene, hydrological conditions unfavorable for this animal developed in the central part of Europe: an unstable winter regime with frequent changes in periods of freezing of rivers and warming periods, accompanied by winter floods. This, apparently, led to a significant reduction in the overall range of the muskrat. Subsequently main role In the process of habitat reduction, anthropogenic factors undoubtedly began to play a role, and above all, the development of fishing.

The distribution of the Russian muskrat today is limited to small areas of the Volga, Don and Ural basins. At the beginning of the twentieth century. the animal disappeared from the Dnieper basin; later - from a number of sections of the Volga system; about half a century ago - from the Seversky Donets basin.

Within its range, the muskrat lives near medium and small rivers, oxbow lakes, lakes, and backwaters. The most favorable reservoirs for it are those with forested banks and well-developed water-bank vegetation. In reservoirs devoid of such vegetation, the animal exists safely until the first spring flood. With the onset of this difficult period, the khokhulya is unable to hold on to the bare shore and is carried away by the current. IN normal conditions, on forested banks, the muskrat survives the flood, remaining in the same place.

The animals, forced out of their burrows, find temporary refuge on non-flooded parts of trees in the forks of branches, hollows, and floating piles of brushwood. The inability to stay still in treeless bodies of water prompts the animal to set off on a wandering journey. He is most often carried downstream, where he ends up in the habitats of other families and suffers persecution. This situation often ends in the death of the wanderer. Summer drought, during which the water level in the reservoir greatly decreases, can also cause migration, which in this case takes place largely overland.

Peculiarities of the Russian desman's lifestyle

Typically, a burrow has 2-3 nesting chambers and the same number of spare chambers, used for drying out after a long stay in water. The animal dries out quite quickly, since its fur hardly gets wet. From the entrance to the hole, a rather deep groove stretches along the bottom of the reservoir, formed as a result of constant movement animals back and forth. During drought, this groove (it usually has 2-3 branches) dries out. The muskrats deepen it and sometimes continue to use it until the reservoir completely dries out.

The khokhulya can remain under water for up to 5 minutes, after which it must take a breath. She can do it while remaining underwater and with only her proboscis exposed to the surface. Camouflaged by herbaceous aquatic vegetation, the animal remains invisible to its enemies, of which there are many - eagle owls, foxes, ferrets and other predators.

Khokhuli activity

The muskrat is active throughout the year. Air bubbles coming out of the fur of a swimming animal and accumulating in winter along the path of its movement form clearly visible paths under the ice - a reliable sign of the population of a reservoir with muskrat.

In general, the activity of khokhuli does not depend on lighting and time of day. The animal can be active both during the daylight hours and in the dead of night. When kept in captivity, everything depends on feeding time. As the feeding hour changes, the feeding schedule quickly changes as well. daily activity animal. The same is observed in natural conditions: if something interferes with the search for food during the daytime, for example, grazing on hot days, when the herd sticks to the shore all the time, the animals living in this area change their daytime activity to nighttime.

The average duration of daily non-nesting activity of a muskrat in winter usually reaches 6-7 hours; from the beginning of spring this figure increases to 9-10 hours. Being in the nest, Ukrainian long time tidies up his fur. If the lid of the nest-house is moved out of place, the animal carefully “caulks” the resulting gap.

The animal spends most of the winter day in the nest in a state of sound sleep. If in the summer it is enough to lift the lid of the house for the muskrat to immediately jump out of it, then in the winter it continues to sleep, curled up in the hay, and awakens only after a rather active “pushing”. The khokhulya does not fall into complete hibernation, but a semblance of winter dormancy is characteristic of it.

What's for lunch?

The muskrat's diet consists of small aquatic invertebrates (mollusks, insects, their larvae, leeches). Less often, the animal hunts for fish and frogs. In addition to animal food, Khokhuls from time to time supplement their diet with plant food - they eat reed stems, cattails, fruits of egg capsules and water lilies, etc.

It should immediately be noted the importance of the grooves on the bottom - constant paths for the movement of muskrats from the hole to the feeding areas. Due to frequent movement, the water in them is well aerated, which attracts small invertebrates that serve as food for the animal. This is a kind of permanent and trouble-free trap. When feeding in its hunting area, the muskrat swims along the furrow, holding its body in a slightly inclined position, using its proboscis and whiskers to detect food objects. The animal picks them up and brings them into its special “feeding holes,” or even just into secluded places on the shore, where it eats them. Having encountered large prey (fish, frog), the khokhulya recklessly rushes at it, sometimes loses it, begins a frantic search, attacks again, rushes from side to side and often stops hunting without reaching the goal. Apparently, in natural conditions it is possible to cope with such prey only under particularly favorable conditions (for example, during a death in a reservoir in winter or when a floodplain lake dries out in summer).

Family relationships

Mating and reproduction in muskrats can occur at any time of the year, but the animals are most active during the high water period. It is at this time that most often occur mating games. At the same time, fierce fights between males are sometimes observed, but in most cases everything is limited to short skirmishes when meeting an opponent.

Each muskrat pair occupies its own burrow, in which it breeds offspring. After fertilization, the female immediately begins building a nest and rarely appears from it. Pregnancy lasts 40-45 days. With the birth of the offspring, the mother takes great care of them, licking the cubs, feeding them milk without fail, never leaving the hole. In the future, she arranges an additional nest for herself, in which she rests between feedings. Worried about something, the female takes the cubs to another burrow (or to another chamber of the same burrow). The father also takes part in caring for the offspring. However, unlike its mother, it quickly leaves the nest if alarmed.

In a muskrat family there can be up to seven animals: the parent pair and the last offspring. With high population density, but disabilities construction of burrows, larger families may arise due to the addition of unrelated individuals. Then it happens that 12-13 animals huddle in one hole. Along with this, there are Khokhuli who lead a solitary lifestyle. Spring broods move on to independent life in the fall, and the parents scatter. The family ceases to exist.

Often males and females different families When they meet, they get into fights, sometimes ending in the death of one of the fighters. As a rule, adult muskrats attack unrelated young ones.

When a Khokhuli meets a foreign individual of its own species, it stands on its hind legs, and the ritual of “showing things off” begins. Both partners stretch their proboscis towards each other and, having touched their vibrissae, they recoil into different sides. This can go on for quite a long time. Finally, the animals dive several times and swim back down again. They end up either getting into a fight or peacefully drifting off in different directions. Sometimes the khokhulya uses the technique of intimidating the enemy, making lunges in his direction and clicking his teeth. When frightened, the muskrat hides in the nest or in the water, at times exposing only the tip of its nose to renew its air supply.

Hearing, vision, smell and voice of the muskrat

Distant orientation in muskrats on land and partly in water is carried out using hearing. The animal reacts especially actively to the sound of a splash of water. At close distances, orientation is carried out using tactile hairs - vibrissae, located on the stigma.

The sense of smell is relatively poorly developed. It can be assumed that when returning to a hole or hunting in complete darkness, the muskrat does not go astray, sticking to its own odorous tracks. By sensing the scent of traces of other individuals of its species, the animal finds a partner during the breeding season.

The muskrat's vision is so poorly developed that even a bright light cutting through the darkness causes virtually no reaction. As observations in the aquarium have shown, an animal in water usually has its eyes closed.

The voice of a muskrat can be heard in a natural environment only in the spring, during a flood, when the animals swim on the surface. The male, chasing the female, makes peculiar chirping sounds, sometimes a kind of quiet moan. You can also hear the gentle calling sounds of the female. Occasionally you can hear the grumbling of a dissatisfied animal about something. In the event of a collision with an alien individual of its own species, for example, a muskrat, a threatening clicking of teeth is heard.

Friendship and enmity

Of particular note is the peculiar friendly relationship between muskrats and animals such as beavers (more about beavers in the article). Beaver burrows are often associated with muskrat burrows. In the midst of the plague big fish in search of oxygen, it gathers at the mouths of beaver burrows and near beaver holes in the ice. This provides food for the Khokhuli. In addition, the holes maintained in the ice by beavers greatly facilitate the existence of the muskrat, providing access to scarce oxygen.

Another species that Khokhuls have to deal with is the large aquatic rodent, the muskrat. In his homeland North America she gets along well with beavers. Similar relationships are established between muskrats and our beavers. But for the muskrat, the inclusion of the strong and aggressive rodent muskrat in the biocenosis turned out to be an unfavorable factor. To date, quite a lot of information has accumulated about the intensive displacement of the Khokhuli by the muskrat. The latter's tendency to colonize muskrat holes has reached such an extent that it now prefers to occupy ready-made muskrat holes, slightly adapting them for itself. An adult muskrat is almost 2 times larger than a muskrat in size. She displaces the animal and expands her domain. True, in Lately The number of muskrats in many reservoirs has greatly decreased due to a lack of food supply.

Peculiarities of muskrat behavior

Many details of the muskrat's behavior remain unclear due to its secretive lifestyle. There are known cases when a newly caught animal, lifted by the tail and brought to the fish, hanging upside down in a person’s hand, despite such an unusual position and fear, immediately rushed to greedily devour it! On the contrary, in another case, a young male muskrat, who had lived with complete freedom of movement in a residential apartment for more than seven months, stubbornly refused to take food from his hands. At the slightest noise, he ran away from the feeder and hid in his nest for a long time. Another animal ran throughout the apartment during the day, not at all afraid of noise, the presence of people, or music.

In a fit of strong excitement or fear, the mother muskrat sometimes kills her offspring. But there are also cases when a female that had just been caught and placed in a transport cage with her cubs immediately began to feed them milk.

We can say that sharp contrasts in the behavior of different individuals in similar situations - characteristic of this type.

When kept in an enclosure, a muskrat quickly masters a new environment and a new way of life. She gets used to a certain daily routine, stops being overly cautious, and can take food from her hands. But it cannot be called tamed in the full sense of the word. Even to the person who constantly looks after her and feeds her, the Ukrainian never truly becomes attached. A characteristic feature of Khokhuli can be considered causeless disruptions to the domestication that has already been achieved. For no apparent reason, she is suddenly seized by a strong fear, forcing her to take a swift flight. After this, the animal sometimes hides in its nest for a long time, as if going wild again. Quite a long time passes before he “comes to his senses” again.

Muskrat in the Red Book

Due to the progressive decline in numbers, by 1957 hunting for the muskrat was finally prohibited, but the cessation of hunting alone could not ensure the conservation of a species that was severely suffering from intensive economic activity person.

As you know, the life of the muskrat is closely related to the floodplain conditions of water bodies. Without the floodplain regime, the existence of the species is hardly possible. The decline in animal numbers also occurred due to changes in environment, and with the development Agriculture. Even in the USSR, in order to restore extinct foci and maximize the expansion of the range, releases of muskrats were carried out in many places, captured for artificial resettlement. But in the vast majority of cases, these initiatives did not produce the desired results.

Today, the muskrat is deservedly included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation with category 2: a rare relict species that is declining in numbers. The main task at the moment is to preserve the remains of the ancient, extremely interesting looking. If the Ukrainian disappears without a trace, the blame will fall on us, who failed to preserve her for posterity.

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