The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks wants your muskrat carcasses. The department says the carcasses from the 2024-2025 fur harvesting season are crucial for a multi-state health assessment. The assessment is the first of its kind for the animals vital to the ecosystem. However, their numbers have been declining nationwide over the past 40 years. Discovering the contributing factors could help ensure their numbers stabilize.
The state is seeking 50 specimens from across Kansas, with a maximum of two carcasses per county. The samples will be sent to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study Lab at the University of Georgia for testing. How you can participate: skin your catch as usual. Freeze the carcass with the skull within 24 hours of capture. Place the carcass tag in a plastic sandwich bag and attach it to/place it in a grocery bag with the carcass. Then arrange pick up by contacting the Furbearer Biologist at the Kansas Department of Wildlife.
