A muskrat returns to its dens after feeding on roots in a pond in Augusta. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

I love a good conservation success story, especially when it comes from someone following our work and taking Maine Audubon’s advice on improving habitats around their yard.

We’ve long preached about the need for restoring our local habitats, and endorse Doug Tallamy’s idea of a “Homegrown National Park” so I was delighted to hear from Pete in Owls Head, who has had success with adding native plants (from the Maine Audubon plant sale, no less!) around his pond. In Pete’s words, it “improved bird habitat. Nesting sites, food, and cover, have been great.” But then he was worried about another animal that has been attracted here: a muskrat.

I’d argue that this should also be considered a success. Let’s talk about why these aquatic rodents are good for the environment.

The misunderstood muskrat has a really important role in the ecosystem. I think a couple of its relatives have given them a bad name, literally and figuratively. One on side, having the common name “muskrat” doesn’t do it any favors, since “rat” carries its own pejorative meanings, and “musk” refers to the smell coming from its musk gland. Then there is the association, or often mis-association, of muskrats with their larger (and quite distant) cousins, the North American beaver. Beavers, despite being one of the most fascinating and important ecosystem engineers, are often disliked for their ability to impact environments by cutting down trees and damming waterways.

Back to our muskrat, it is important to acknowledge that they are essentially the best of both animals: small enough (but bigger than a rat) to not do too much “damage,” and a native species that provides many benefits to an ecosystem.

I’m sure looking out and seeing a muskrat munching on the native plants around a pond could look destructive, but that animal is keeping those plants in balance. Native pond plants like cattails and water lilies can outcompete other vegetation and create a near monoculture in a pond, making it less habitable for other species of plants and animals.

Muskrats will graze on these and keep the pond balanced, increasing the biodiversity in the pond. They’ll also use that vegetation as well as carry in new material for the dens, which is important for moving nutrients around and into the pond. That material and their dens also provides shelter for a variety of aquatic animals like fish, frogs, and insects.

While there isn’t much data on population trends in Maine, across their range muskrats are showing steady declines. This species is far from endangered, with an apparently healthy population in Maine, but with all the loss of biodiversity we are seeing across the landscape, we should do what we can to help preserve and promote these awesome aquatic engineers in the habitats that need them.

BEES CATCHING Zs

One more fun question that came in this week was from Nick of Cumberland asking about sleeping bees. You’ll likely encounter this on early morning walks where a bee is just sleeping on a flower – join us on a Thursday bird walk at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth and I’ll try to point one out – which naturally leads to the question of “what gives?”

While I’m sure a melittologist (someone who studies bees) could give a full rundown of all the different families and roles within them, I can speak more generally to some sleepy bees. An important place to start is with the different types of bees we encounter, both in terms of species and in their role in the colony (if there even is one – many bees aren’t social.) Honeybees, which are not native but are the species domesticated by beekeepers, are the most abundant ones we encounter. The larger bumblebees are our only native social bees and have similar roles: Most important is the queen, who originally builds cells to lay eggs and start the colony. Other females are the workers, who are responsible for gathering nectar and pollen. Drones are the males, who don’t help around the hive, they don’t make honey, can’t even sting, but only mate with the queen.

Once a male leaves the nest, he isn’t allowed back in, so many of these sleepy bees, if they are from a social species, are males hoping to find a mate out on their own. Because these solitary males don’t have a nest to “go home” to, they can be found sleeping in flowers.

With our non-social, solitary bees (all the native bees that aren’t bumblebees), the roles are a bit different. The female again does all of the work, making her own nest and gathering pollen for her larvae, but this time by herself. The males still need to be around to breed, but otherwise are just out doing their own thing. Because of this, you are more likely to encounter a male solitary bee sleeping out on a flower than any other. It’s totally normal; bees need to sleep, too, so best leave them be.

Have you got a nature question of your own? Email questions to ask@maineaudubon.org and visit maineaudubon.org to learn more about birding, native plants, and programs and events focusing on Maine wildlife and habitat. Doug and other naturalists lead free bird walks on Thursday mornings, 7 to 9 am, at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Sanctuary in Falmouth.