When I came upon this very close to sunset, three ladies were watching it. I never saw it’s tail. They said it was slapping it on the water. I think it is either a muskrat or a beaver. I passed by this area earlier and heard a slap on the water and assumed it was a fish jumping. It may have been this animal.
Both beaver and muskrats can live in lodges. There was a lodge nearby and both live in lodges. This was in a wetlands area affected by the tide, off the Hudson River. I am going to say it may be a beaver. I have been by this area many times and have not seen it come this close. Hopefully it is not rabid. There was a case of a rabid beaver on the River that went after a kayaker I think last year.
Hopefully the Beaver and you have a Marvellous Monday!
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It sure looks like a beaver to me!
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I leaned toward that. I always want to see the tail though. I’ve never seen this one on land.
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So very beautiful.
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They are, but got some reason this one was vey agitated when it is usually very chill.
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They are cute looking.kind of got that James Dean, swept back, greased hair thing going on. 😎😎😁
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Ha!🤣 definitely!
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I found this, which I suppose is true, but I don’t know: “When a muskrat swims, its head, back, and tail can be seen on the surface of the water. However, when a beaver swims, the only part of it that is visible is its head.” Does that help your ID?
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That’s helpful. You don’t see his tail. I have seen muskrats before mostly out of the water. They quickly go under so it’s hard to tell if the tail was visible while in the water but you can tell when they are on land.
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