Once I was fishing for Small Mouth bass in an irrigation canal near Yuma Arizona (believe it or not). When suddenly my girlfriend came running up, all freaked out, about a giant rat that swam out of the water and went right by her. "He was this big!!! He came from deep down under water!!!!" I was like OK???? Turns out the canal had "Muskrats",,, and they are huge, and they do swim underwater. They also have a very desirable pelt, and my girlfriend seriously wanted a pair of Muskrat slippers (tail and all). I have seen them here in the San Juan Islands and had to look them up to see if they are present here in Wa. One big ass rat for sure.