Muskrat
a name common to several rodents having little in common except the secretion of a musky substance, or the diffusion of a musky odor; specifically Fiber zibethicus, a beaver-like water rat.
The toes are webbed, and the tail is flattened laterally. They inhabit the banks of lakes and rivers in this country, and construct dwellings somewhat resembling small haystacks. Their coloring is so much like that of the muddy banks on which they dwell, that they have been often mistaken for lumps of mud till their movements betrayed them. They are hunted for their fur, which is much valued.
Called also musquash and ondatra.