Coypu/beaver/muskrat ID Czech/Poland (1 Viewer)

[opisska]

I was looking for something similar to the Bird ID forums we have here for mammals, but didn't really find anything besides this very section of our very forum. I have to restrain myself from posting all the unidentified mammals I have at once now But this one topic really bugs me; I thought that when the Mammal ID book (Aulagnier et al.) finally came I'd be smarter, but not really.

All three species are widespread across both of my countries (Czech Republic and Poland) and even though theoretically they are very different, I find them very hard. There are plenty of very tame animals in Prague and around, which are quite certainly Coypus, so I picked images that could be something else. I think the first three here are muskrats, but the couple in the last image was just so huge - but they never showed any hint of tail, making it so much more difficult.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Farnboro John]

I'd say the third one seems to be a Muskrat (the tail looks vertically flattened to me), the last is Coypu and I'm unsure about the other two though the first could also be a Muskrat - it certainly isn't a Beaver but I can't rule out a young Coypu.

John

 

[Julian Perry]

Hi Jan,

In my opinion the first three photos are Muskrat:

1. Small ears & creamy cheeks
2. Pink claws
3. Laterally flattened tail

And the fourth photo Coypu
4. Large head & humped back

Hope that helps
Julian

 

[opisska]

Thanks both! So even though I have seen endless cut trees, my quest to actually see a European beaver continues (I've seen one American in Patagonia at least )

 

[Swannery Steve]

I thought that American Beaver was restricted to Northern North America? Have they been introduced to Patagonia?

 

[Nutcracker]

I thought that American Beaver was restricted to Northern North America? Have they been introduced to Patagonia?

Yes; a serious invasive pest there. They're trying to remove them at the moment.

 

[Swannery Steve]

Cheers, yes just did some research, I should of done that before posting ��

 

[Farnboro John]

I thought that American Beaver was restricted to Northern North America? Have they been introduced to Patagonia?

They are in parts of Northern Europe as well, and need removing from there before reintroduction of native European Beavers can succeed.

John

 

[King Edward]

They are in parts of Northern Europe as well, and need removing from there before reintroduction of native European Beavers can succeed.

John

I thought American Beavers were only in Finland, where there are also European Beavers so not in need of reintroduction. Are they in other countries as well? I remember seeing a fairly recent paper from Finland concluding that their dam building activities are pretty much equal. I'm not sure what happens when the two species come into contact.

 

[opisska]

Yes; a serious invasive pest there. They're trying to remove them at the moment.

This close encounter of mine with an American Beaver was on Tierra del Fuego, where the situation is the worst, because as it's separated from the mainland, the pumas aren't found there and thus the beavers have no natural enemies. The scale of landscape changes they create is stunning, essentially the whole mountains are now one huge beaver playground. I heard the mainland has it better, but it's probably still an important issue.

 

[opisska]

After a few years of watching mammals and having much more experience with these species, we thought we should revisit the old questions - interesting how we god two replies for Coypu, as image 4 are - for us now - quite clearly beavers (Coypu is not really even found here). The rest are, indeed, obvious Muskrats.

 

[jurek]

Hi Jan, indeed the last I think are beavers. And coypu is still rarer than beaver in Poland.

Coypu in profile has slight bump betwen eyes and nostrils, distance eyes to tip of the nose is slightly longer than ears to eyes, more grey fur with a whitish area around whiskers, usually long, thick, bushy and white whiskers, more prominent ears, nostrils are broader, more covered with hair and differently shaped, base of head is less high with less full cheeks.
Beaver can have orange teeth, look e.g.

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Tayside_Beaver_mother_and_kit_June_5%2C_2010_Ray_Scott.jpg

 

[Farnboro John]

I also now think the last picture is Beaver: inspection of Coypu photos shows their snouts (I mean the immediate area of the nostrils) to be considerably more hairy than those of Beavers. By contrast Beavers have a quite large bare, rubbery snout. This seems to be a consistent feature across many photos.

John