No, it's not a real rat. They're just relatives. Read more below.

I went for a short walk near my house this evening, and even though we’d had some pop-up showers, I figured it was a good idea to bring the ol’ Nikon with me. There’s a canal down the street (remind me to tell you sometime the interesting history of how they dug it and then the railroad came through a few years after and rendered it obsolete), and I figured that at the very least I could maybe get some ducks or people or people feeding ducks or, well, something!

I was shooting at the aforementioned ducks, as they are a common sight along the canal, when from almost directly below me at the base of the bank I heard a splash. I looked down, figuring that maybe I’d get lucky and there’d be turtle, but it sure wasn’t sunny enough for one of those to be out. What did I see instead, but a muskrat! Now, this isn’t like a moose or a bear or even a deer, but I’d never in 39 years of living in the area, ever seen a muskrat in the canal, and definitely never seen one up close. It demanded my full attention, and now, whether you like it or not, it’s demanding yours as well. Enjoy!