The Nuisance of Nutria

By Adam Eisman and the Great Green Home Show, GREENandSAVE.com
Posted on Sunday 1st March 2009

Nutria, despite their seemingly wholesome name, are a major menace to Americans from all walks of life. These animals are expanding their populations in at least 16 states as they continue to wreak havoc across the country from Davis, California, to Dorchester County, Maryland. Now, Nutria are not very dangerous on their own, as they are semi-aquatic rodents with a penchant for marshlands; however this does not mean that they are not a threat.

Nutria are beaver-like animals with long thin tails. They can weigh up to 20 pounds with dense, grayish under-fur with longer glossy guard hairs on top. This seems like an extraneous detail, but their fur is the only reason Nutria are in the United States.

Hailing from South American nations such as Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, Nutria were brought to the United States between 1899 and 1930 in an attempt to create a fur farm business. After the fur farms failed in the late 1940s, many farmers simply released these creatures into the wild. Not much of an issue was made of this at the time as Nutria had reproduced rather poorly in captivity.

Nutria in the wild is a completely different story. At the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, Maryland, these enormous rodents are destroying thousands of acres of marshland. Formally called Myocaster Coypus, these critters reproduce very quickly and have litters of as many as 13 offspring. Their multiplication goes largely unchecked as the Nutria has no natural predators. An estimated 50-75,000 Nutria are living in the wild in Blackwater alone.

They wouldn't be all that bad, really, if not for the barrenness of the marshlands once they are through with them. While the feed on crops and marshland vegetation, they use their big, orange, beaver-like teeth and powerful forefeet to exhaust the vegetation down to what is called the "root mat." Once the marshland is made bare down to that level, it cannot be regrown.

So far, Nutria have destroyed 7,000 acres of marshland in Blackwater and about another 50% of the remaining marshland in the area. This is disastrous for the natural species of the region, such as waterfowl, wading birds and muskrats who need the marshland to survive. Due to the aggressiveness of the Nutria, these species' numbers are dwindling.

The State of Maryland currently has a team of federal, state and private agencies and organizations working on the problem. They have trapped a large number so far, but are barely making a dent. Some locals have even taken to eating them.

The Nutria infestation is a growing problem, but vigilante justice is not necessarily encouraged. To find out ways to help out local officials in removing these threats to marshlands and the ecosystems therein, make sure you read up on information from local authorities.

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