What Animal Lives Where

Where has the muskrat been recorded?

Ondatra zibethicus occurrence evidence comes from 1,425,539 records in 30 countries and territories, from 1860 to 2026. Most records come from Netherlands.

muskrat
muskrat — Photo (display-sized rendition): D. Gordon E. Robertson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
MammaliaRodentiaCricetidaeOndatra

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

1,425,539 records across 30 countries and territories, 1860–2026.

Ondatra zibethicus · GBIF taxon key 5219858

Source coverage

CC0 GBIF Animalia occurrence facets, including country, month and year summaries.

Refreshed 2026-09-20. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

The species has been recorded in the listed places in the stated source universe. Peak month: March.

12 months reach at least 10% of the peak facet count.

What this does not mean

repeated describes the record pattern, not a formal range, residency, abundance or conservation assessment.

A single record remains evidence of a recording, not proof that a population lives there.

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: March. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Records over time

18602026

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where muskrat has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for muskrat. They do not define a complete habitat range: survey effort differs by place, and historical or one-off records can appear alongside repeated presence.

PlaceRecordsShare
Netherlands 897,971
Belgium 513,311
United States 6,156
Germany 5,448
Sweden 783
Canada 619
Luxembourg 499
Austria 343
Russia 117
France 102
Serbia 47
Mexico 27
Croatia 24
Slovenia 18
Bosnia & Herzegovina 16
North Macedonia 12
Argentina 7
Belarus 7
Bulgaria 5
Ukraine 5
Chile 4
Romania 4
Kazakhstan 3
Switzerland 2
China 2
Kosovo 2
Czechia 1
Spain 1
Hungary 1
Mongolia 1

Related animals

Others in the family Cricetidae.

Bank Vole
Bank Vole
6,466 records
Gray Dwarf Hamster
Gray Dwarf Hamster
806 records
Afghan Mole-Vole
57 records
Record pattern: repeated
Repeated records across many years and months. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.