Nutria in California

MR47930

Member
Now the destructive critters are on the west coast. And apparently Louisiana too. Funny the article makes no mention of the massive damage they've done to the marshes in MD and VA...including the one that used to along the front of my place.


http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/04/18/california-officials-declare-emergency-over-huge-invasive-nutria/
Went on a swamp tour in Louisiana when we visited New Orleans. The guide was about the same age as me (mid 30’s) and said his favorite childhood memories were when him and his pop would go hunting for nutria and then get the $ for their tails as proof of the kill. I assume it was a state sponsored thing to try and get rid of them?
This guy was a hoot though. We asked him what were some good spots in NOLA to visit and he said “No idea, never been” and he was only 30 minutes away from Bourbon Street!
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Went on a swamp tour in Louisiana when we visited New Orleans. The guide was about the same age as me (mid 30’s) and said his favorite childhood memories were when him and his pop would go hunting for nutria and then get the $ for their tails as proof of the kill. I assume it was a state sponsored thing to try and get rid of them?
This guy was a hoot though. We asked him what were some good spots in NOLA to visit and he said “No idea, never been” and he was only 30 minutes away from Bourbon Street!

My son and I eradicated the ones that destroyed our marsh...but only after it was too late to save the marsh from destruction. A few years of water working through all the burrows the little buggers created and it was almost gone; had to armor and otherwise stabilize the entire shoreline that had always to that point been naturally protected by a healthy marsh barrier as much as 75' out. Gone.
 

MR47930

Member
My son and I eradicated the ones that destroyed our marsh...but only after it was too late to save the marsh from destruction. A few years of water working through all the burrows the little buggers created and it was almost gone; had to armor and otherwise stabilize the entire shoreline that had always to that point been naturally protected by a healthy marsh barrier as much as 75' out. Gone.

I've seen and trapped a bunch of muskrat in my day but I've never seen a nutria. I'm not a native of SOMD though. Crazy they can do that kind of damage.
 

MR47930

Member
Nutria = fur coats for rich people. It's promoted as guilt-free fur.

If we can get the Kardashian’s to wear a nutria jacket we can solve this problem quickly. Every female in California will want one and the trappers will get top dollar for the fur.
 

black dog

Free America
My son and I eradicated the ones that destroyed our marsh...but only after it was too late to save the marsh from destruction. A few years of water working through all the burrows the little buggers created and it was almost gone; had to armor and otherwise stabilize the entire shoreline that had always to that point been naturally protected by a healthy marsh barrier as much as 75' out. Gone.

Louisiana has a 5 dollar bounty on each tail, I've never understood why Maryland didn't do that or better decades ago when the damage was noted at Blackwater.
At 7.50 or 10.00 each it would make it worthwhile for trapper to hit the swamps and get it under control.. like the snakehead,,, it just doesn't make sense..
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
I've seen and trapped a bunch of muskrat in my day but I've never seen a nutria. I'm not a native of SOMD though. Crazy they can do that kind of damage.

First time I saw one or two was at a distance and I did think they were muskrats. It wasn't until they had totally infested our march that we realized what they really were...and then it was too late.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

First time I saw one or two was at a distance and I did think they were muskrats. It wasn't until they had totally infested our march that we realized what they really were...and then it was too late.

What exactly is it that they eat?
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
What exactly is it that they eat?

Everything and anything vegetative.

Diet:

Nutria are herbivores, so they feed entirely on plants. Nutria eat wetland plants such as Three-square rush. Nutria can consume 25% of their body weight per day and tend to eat the roots of wetland vegetation, often causing erosion in wetlands. Occasionally, nutria will feed on agricultural crops.

They are also not native to North America:

Nutria are native to South America but have become established in 16 states in North America. Nutria were introduced to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in the 1940s, where they were farmed for fur. Currently, nutria can be found on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as well as in the Potomac and Patuxent rivers on the Western Shore.

http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/Nutria.aspx
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
aquatic vegetation and their roots. s

Yep. They make burrows like big worm holes throughout an entire marsh and eat the root systems of the marsh grasses from below. The wave action quickly breaks down what is left and carries it away.
 
Cali just packages it and sells it by the name of Nutrella or something like that.

:drummer:

Kinda like Bear Whiz Beer. "It's in the water. That's why t's yellow!"

[video=youtube;_rmwEyIBBQM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rmwEyIBBQM[/video]
 

Merlin99

Visualize whirled peas
PREMO Member
First time I saw one or two was at a distance and I did think they were muskrats. It wasn't until they had totally infested our march that we realized what they really were...and then it was too late.

Easy to tell them apart if you can see their faces, nutria have orange teeth.
 

Popster

Member
Nutria = fur coats for rich people. It's promoted as guilt-free fur.



Sorry, couldn't resist...... Drain the swamp? lol
 
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Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Easy to tell them apart if you can see their faces, nutria have orange teeth.

As I learned way back then. They are are surprisingly evasive too...not easy to eradicate. You have to camp out next to one of their many breathing holes and wait for them to pop up for a shot of air. Every once in a while you can catch one swimming along the shoreline - nothing but nostrils and eyeballs above the surface - but if they spot you they are gone under water in a flash.
 
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