At birth the young are blind, almost naked, and helpless and weigh about 21 g. The pelage develops rapidly and by the end of the first week the young are covered with a good coat of gray-brown fur. Their eyes are open in 14-16 days, at which time they can dive and swim with alacrity. When 4 weeks old they are generally weaned. Sexual maturity is reached in 10-12 months, at which time the rats have attained the size and characteristics of adults.
Muskrats are the victims of many predators.
Marsh hawks, large owls, raccoons, foxes, minks, water snakes, and large turtles are known to plague them. Muskrats were, at one time, the most economically important furbearing mammal in eastern Texas, but this is no longer true. The decline in importance of the muskrat as a furbearing mammal is a reflection of a loss of habitat as a result of marsh deterioration and resultant population decline, variations in market demand, and the increasing importance of the nutria as an important furbearing mammal. John L. Tveten. This page is copyrighted 1994 by Texas Parks and Wildlife, Nongame and Urban Program.