Muskrat Love..Whirling and Twirling...
 

I'd always suspected muskrats were around Lake Winnipesaukee, but I didn't expect to hear them, much less have them swimming around my dock while I was attending to my boats!

The two swam around me for about an hour—nose-to-tail in 10-foot circles: One was persistently "mewing" to the other. Sometimes the muskrat in front would turn around and snap at the muskrat following. (And sometimes, er...ah...er...ahem...she wouldn't).

It was very still, warm, sunny and quiet out yesterday, so the mewing could be heard for 100 yards or so—even heard a ruffed grouse at a ¾-mile distance for the first time in many years!

They "hauled out" on a log briefly, but I noticed that they can swim underwater at a depth of about three feet—and very quickly.

While they could be mistaken for beaver pups, this file photo is exactly what I saw from only a few feet away: Note the round tail.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2059/...815a9e35_m.jpg

Yes, I can now see where the lyrics come from..."And they whirled and they twirled and they tangoed..."Singin and jingin the jango..."

wow,this might explain what i saw the other night. it was thursday night about nine and i was down on my dock doin a little fishing, and this thing swam about ten feet off the end of the dock right by me.It was pretty dark so i couldnt tell for sure but i thought it was a beaver. it just swam under my neighbors dock and i never saw it re-appear.guess it could have been one of these lil fellas. nice picture by the way, ive never seen one of those before.

...and now I have the most annoying song ever, stuck in my head! :D:cool: