citysherry
I Need a Beer
huntr1 said:
Don't they call it muskrat 
The nutria, a rodent like a muskrat, is not a muskrat. They were imported into the area from South America and not only compete with the muskrat for the habitat but are now consumming so much as to cause damage to the ecosystem.sleuth said:
Hipwaders were definitely a good investment.
No. They are not the same animal. From the article:citysherry said:
K
Kizzy
Guest
Amazing that a few escaped from the fur far in 1930 and now they are over populated.
So huntr, I have to know, did anyone give an opinion of how it tasted? I couldn't eat one, yuck, and I have tried some fairly strange food.
So huntr, I have to know, did anyone give an opinion of how it tasted? I couldn't eat one, yuck, and I have tried some fairly strange food.
K
Kizzy
Guest
Ken King said:You sticking with the zipper steak huh?
I try.
K
Kizzy
Guest
huntr1 said:
at least it wasn't chicken.
D
dems4me
Guest
They are all over the place in the potomac / mattawoman creek down 210.... I was hoping they eat snakes because there's alot of snakes at Slavens pier. :shrug:
fttrsbeerwench
New Member
It's a delicacy in New Orleans, my people down there have tried em . I was temped, but opted for the rabbit instead. I had a pet rat once, kinda like a cat only it doesn't shed so much...Perhaps someone could start selling 'em to pet stores. NAAHHHH!!
K
Kizzy
Guest
You ate a bunny rabbit.
A cute little bunny rabbit, that hops around and wiggles its nose and they have them on display at all the fairs?
I love bunny rabbits.
A cute little bunny rabbit, that hops around and wiggles its nose and they have them on display at all the fairs?
I love bunny rabbits.
Louisiana has a program to control nutria that seems to be working...
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041115/APS/411150936
James White
Have a nuisance?Im 4 hire
Here is the full DNR press release.
Rodents Consuming Vital Chesapeake Bay Marshlands; Economic Losses Could Exceed $35 Million in Future Decades
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNAPOLIS - A new economic evaluation of the effects of an escaped population of Nutria, -- an exotic South American rodent that is spreading across Chesapeake Bay marshes -- shows that the rat-like creatures could have an enormous cost in lost revenue to the State of Maryland, as well as a devastating ecological impact to the Chesapeake Bay.
The study, performed by Southwick Associates, an independent economic consulting group and commissioned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife and Heritage Service (WHS) outlines the damage that nutria are causing and the effects they will have upon the Maryland economy.
Nutria are large aquatic rodents native to South America. They became established in Maryland when a few animals escaped from a fur farm in the 1930s. Unlike the smaller native muskrat which grazes on marsh grasses, nutria literally consume tidal marshlands, leaving mudflats in their place. Scientists believe that there are as many as 50,000 nutria in the wetlands of the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore.
“As more and more acres of Chesapeake Bay marshes are lost, the resulting declines in commercially and recreationally-valuable species takes a measurable economic toll on the State of Maryland and its citizens.
“This confirms our worst fears and supports the necessity to act aggressively when controlling the nutria population,” said Jonathan McKnight, Associate Director for Habitat Conservation for DNR’s Wildlife & Heritage Service. “If the nutria are allowed to continue to destroy the Bay’s marshes, we will feel the economic pain in lost fisheries, tourism, and jobs.”
State and Federal agencies have formed the Chesapeake Nutria Partnership to battle the rat-like invaders. Since 2002 DNR has worked with trappers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ply the marshes of Dorchester County, trapping nutria and establishing a “nutria-free zone” in what was once the most heavily infested marshland in the Chesapeake.
“We have been able to clear the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge of nutria,” said Kevin Sullivan, State Director of Wildlife Services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “We’ve proven that nutria can be eradicated in a large area, and we’ve seen a remarkable recovery in damaged wetlands. The next step is to accelerate our efforts and make the entire Chesapeake Bay a nutria-free zone.”
“Often when we look at ecological effects, we have to ask people to make value judgments,” said John Wolflin, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office. “But in this case the damage is sufficiently extreme that it has been possible to predict the impacts in dollar terms. And the numbers are sobering.”
Included in the report’s findings:
In 50 years, losses to the overall economy will exceed $35 million annually.
Without decisive action, more than 35,000 acres of Chesapeake Bay marshes could be destroyed by nutria in 50 years.
Maryland watermen will be hardest hit, with lost productivity and lost jobs for this already economically embattled sector.
Damage to “ecological services” from marshlands will make the overall damage even worse than the economic findings indicate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rodents Consuming Vital Chesapeake Bay Marshlands; Economic Losses Could Exceed $35 Million in Future Decades
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNAPOLIS - A new economic evaluation of the effects of an escaped population of Nutria, -- an exotic South American rodent that is spreading across Chesapeake Bay marshes -- shows that the rat-like creatures could have an enormous cost in lost revenue to the State of Maryland, as well as a devastating ecological impact to the Chesapeake Bay.
The study, performed by Southwick Associates, an independent economic consulting group and commissioned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife and Heritage Service (WHS) outlines the damage that nutria are causing and the effects they will have upon the Maryland economy.
Nutria are large aquatic rodents native to South America. They became established in Maryland when a few animals escaped from a fur farm in the 1930s. Unlike the smaller native muskrat which grazes on marsh grasses, nutria literally consume tidal marshlands, leaving mudflats in their place. Scientists believe that there are as many as 50,000 nutria in the wetlands of the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore.
“As more and more acres of Chesapeake Bay marshes are lost, the resulting declines in commercially and recreationally-valuable species takes a measurable economic toll on the State of Maryland and its citizens.
“This confirms our worst fears and supports the necessity to act aggressively when controlling the nutria population,” said Jonathan McKnight, Associate Director for Habitat Conservation for DNR’s Wildlife & Heritage Service. “If the nutria are allowed to continue to destroy the Bay’s marshes, we will feel the economic pain in lost fisheries, tourism, and jobs.”
State and Federal agencies have formed the Chesapeake Nutria Partnership to battle the rat-like invaders. Since 2002 DNR has worked with trappers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ply the marshes of Dorchester County, trapping nutria and establishing a “nutria-free zone” in what was once the most heavily infested marshland in the Chesapeake.
“We have been able to clear the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge of nutria,” said Kevin Sullivan, State Director of Wildlife Services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “We’ve proven that nutria can be eradicated in a large area, and we’ve seen a remarkable recovery in damaged wetlands. The next step is to accelerate our efforts and make the entire Chesapeake Bay a nutria-free zone.”
“Often when we look at ecological effects, we have to ask people to make value judgments,” said John Wolflin, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay Field Office. “But in this case the damage is sufficiently extreme that it has been possible to predict the impacts in dollar terms. And the numbers are sobering.”
Included in the report’s findings:
In 50 years, losses to the overall economy will exceed $35 million annually.
Without decisive action, more than 35,000 acres of Chesapeake Bay marshes could be destroyed by nutria in 50 years.
Maryland watermen will be hardest hit, with lost productivity and lost jobs for this already economically embattled sector.
Damage to “ecological services” from marshlands will make the overall damage even worse than the economic findings indicate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
huntr1
.
Kizzy said:
Blackwater Refuge Now Nutria-Free
"After struggling for decades against an orange-toothed rodent that is eating the state's marshes, authorities in Maryland have claimed their first major victory over the nutria.
The animals, which are blamed for thousands of acres of vanished wetland across the state, have been eliminated from their former stronghold in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, officials said. All it took was two years, $2 million and 15 trappers working in chest-deep muck here on the Eastern Shore. In all, about 8,300 nutria were killed during the eradication, which officials said was planned like a military campaign, using Global Positioning System equipment."