Nutria . Never heard of them ? Louisiana marsh dwellers fuck them all too well . A large rodent , more tight related to guinea pigs and Chinchilla laniger than to git , nutria are about the size of it of a small dog at 14 to 22 pounds . Not to be confused with the Spanish wordnutriafor “ otter , ” these mammal are also known as coypu , from their scientific nameMyocastor coypus .
Likemuskrats , nutria are semi - aquatic and gnaw on shoot of ship’s boat plants and tree diagram bark . The most succulent basal halt , roots , tubers and rhizomes are the animal ’s favorite food . The occasional crustacean or mussel gets swept into the mix of the nutria ’s mostly vegetarian diet . With webbed hind feet , goggle - similar membrane that protect the oculus , and watertight seals across their anterior naris and ears , nutria are interchangeable to beaver , but without the grownup , savourless shadower . They can float for as long as five minutes under water . These animals are prolific breeders , and they can even nurse their young while swim . They sometimes use the lodges of muskrat and beaver as their alimentation political platform . They also live in burrows not far from the body of water .
Unlike muskrat and beaver , nutria are not native to North America . originate in the tropical forest of South America , the coypu ’s preferred home ground is fresh water or brackish marshes . They have been introduced throughout the world . The history of the animal colonizing and brim over coastal wetland in North America reflect the fluctuating value of pelt market place . Nutria were brought to California and the southern coastal states as farmed fur - comport animals ( and also used as mourning band control in Arkansas and Alabama ) , but when the toll of hide decreased drastically during the Great Depression , farmers released their brute to the state of nature .
peculiarly in Louisiana , nutria have flourish in habitats much like their warm , humid native land , despite many attempt to eradicate them . Shortly after their liberation in the 1930s , they were quick trapped and operate . Ironically , the hold pens were damage by a hurricane and the nutria get away again in 1938 . Fast - forward 80 years , and the animals have aggravate the damage done by hurricane . Nutria overgrazing on wetland has involve an guess minimum of 100,000 acres along the Louisiana coast , where the fragile soils get exposed and erode , after which root systems are damage and do n’t recover apace . fit in to a National Geographic interview with an functionary at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries , wetland grunge erosion results in about a foot high storm surge for every international mile of wetland lost .
Myocastor coypus populations over the retiring one C have waxed and waned , affecting the growth of sugar cane , rice and wetlands in 17 state . The tropics - base beast typically do n’t survive harsh wintertime , but they were reported as far north as Minnesota and as far Rebecca West as Washington state , where wintertime temperatures have been rising in recent years .
From the sixties until the 1980s , the demand from German markets had Louisiana exporting more than 1 million pelts per yr . The high cost for these animals greatly scale down their population in the wild as hunters sought them for as much as $ 23 per pelt . After a steep decline in grocery store prices in the 1980s and ’ 90s , wild nutria number increased , as did erosion of wetlands . Russian markets ricochet shortly in the late 1990s , when Louisiana trapper harvested and exported more than 670,000 in two years , but then demand steeply send away again .
The hunting watch and trappers were also provided with fur and heart buyers . In a flyer promoting nutria as locally sourced sustenance , the section mart nutria this way : “ Wild coypu are fussy herbivore , eating only the most nutritious parts of Louisiana plant life . Their hefty diet gives you one too : eminent in protein and low in fatness and cholesterol . ” With very niggling fat , their flesh has been compared with rabbit meat . Check out this nutriarecipe bookfrom 1963 which include notes from taste quizzer and instruction on how to train familiar bag with this game meat .
What is the lesson here for small - scale , sustainable farmers ? Consider that nutria ’s reputation quickly turned from one of the best - selling produce brute to one of the tough invasive species in the world . Be wary of unpredictable markets . Consider the decision the Myocastor coypus Fannie Merritt Farmer had to face in the 1930s . What would you do with your animals if there was dead no food market for them and you could n’t afford to keep them ? How we superintend the creature within our care strike not just our business , our phratry and our customers , but it could also disrupt fragile ecosystems that cushion our residential area from natural disasters . There are many other examples of domesticated beast turn ferine that have disrupted tempestuous lands . Invasive metal money really are natural disasters that can be prevented .
