CNN Online News: Lincoln County, Missouri, June 28, 2008.
"Muskrat holes weaken levee north of St. Louis, Missouri,
officials say - Late-night rains prove too much for levee to
handle - Mississippi River being held back by sandbags - Latest
breach threatens 100 homes." "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
blamed the structural collapse on pockets dug in the levee walls
by muskrats. These pockets had led to 'down slides' that had
occurred in two 100-foot-sections of the levee over the past
several days." " 'Until this morning, we felt our progress was
successful and would hold the water back,' said Andy Binder,
public information officer for Lincoln County. 'However, Mother
Nature's priorities were apparently different.' " This is not
new news. The Louisiana Historical Photographs Collection of the
State Library has pictures from 1908 showing muskrat holes in
levees. There are scientific studies on muskrat burrowing in
levees in Illinois, Texas, and Louisiana published in the 1940s.
Muskrats have caused levee col