Their body is plump and thick. Their front feet are small and their back feet are long with toes partly webbed. Their average size is 20 inches long to 2 feet in length, including their tail. Their average weight is one to two pounds. The muskrat inhabits fresh or saltwater lakes, ponds or marshes.
Muskrats live in burrows, in mudbanks, or in cone-shaped lodges made of mud or grass.
Both homes have underwater entrances. There are usually five to seven young born to a litter. The young Muskrats are born in the lodge. The muskrat's fur is a thick brownish-black coat with coarse guard hairs above and silver fur below. Muskrats' partly webbed feet are well adapted to swimming, and the flattened tail, at this time, serves as a rudder.