In 1905, a Bohemian prince released five muskrats that multiplied into millions

A small group of muskrats arrived in Bohemia in 1905, carried across the Atlantic as curiosities from a hunting trip in North America. Five animals were released into ponds at Prince Colloredo-Mannsfeld’s estate near Dobříš, where they were expected to remain little more than a private collection and perhaps a source of valuable fur. They had other plans. Within years, the animals had moved beyond the estate and into the surrounding waterways, breeding as they went.By 1914, estimates put the muskrat population in Bohemia at around two million. From there, the animals continued their slow spread through rivers, canals and wetlands, reaching neighbouring countries and, through later introductions and escapes, much farther east. More than a century later, the descendants of those early European muskrats are found across a vast stretch of the continent, while countries such as the Netherlands still trap them to protect vulnerable waterways and embankments.Five muskrats released in Bohemia began an unexpected European spreadThis is generally traced to 1905, when Prince Colloredo-Mannsfeld returned to Bohemia after a hunting trip in North America, commonly described as having taken place...