April 18-30 Dunlap Lake will be working with the USDA’s APHIS Wildlife Services to conduct a lake-wide wildlife damage management program to get rid of the Muskrats that have been collapsing shorelines.
Trapping sites will be marked with signs. Please keep children and pets away from all marked areas.
If you know of an active den and have not contacted Carolyn please e-mail Carolyn at carolyn@dunlaplake.org.
This is a one-time only effort. To keep muskrats from over populating again we need residents to learn how to self-manage the problem. Reply to this e-mail if you or a family member would be willing to attend informal training sessions with USDA experts to learn how to deal with muskrats in the future.
Muskrats are primarily vegetarian and they nest on the shoreline. Big holes back away from the water or animals leaving muscle shells are probably groundhogs or raccoons. Local vendors like Critter Control (618) 655-9570 can help with those.
To learn more about muskrats see www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Ondatra_zibethicus/.