Thread: Rat or Otter???
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Old 07-19-2016, 08:24 AM   #34
ApS
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Wink On Mink, Mussels, Beaver, Muskrats, Dasher and Prancer...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hillcountry View Post
Looks like beaver chewings...you can see where their chisel teeth went to work...almost 100% positive it's a beaver.
Yes, most likely a beaver. (I haven't seen muskrats carrying branches, but beaver's heads, bodies—sometimes, tails—are easily seen above the water, as they carry their load of branches).

To find a local "Bank Beaver" lodge, look for piles of bark-free, sun-dried, branches on the edge of the shoreline near you.



Quote:
Originally Posted by aquabones View Post
So rats would have to be swimming around for the bass to eat them? We're up near Center Harbor in Meredith. I haven't seen any mussels in the area. Whatever creature it was, was swimming around in the open water and by the time I got to the end of the dock, he was gone until he appeared next to the dock.
Mink can be hard to see: they're dark and not very big. What you can see, is "the evidence". Piles of pearly, but empty, mussel shells on the bottom.

Mink take a chip out of the top margin, and pry the two halves apart: note the missing margins in these two discarded shells:
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