The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has requested that anyone seeing a nutria—a large rodent that lives in bodies of water—in the state immediately report the sighting.
This invasive species can cause extreme damage to waterways, marshes, water quality, riparian plant life, and crops. According to the CSFW:
“They can consume up to 25 percent of their body weight in above- and below-ground vegetation each day, but they waste and destroy up to 10 times as much, causing extensive damage to the native plant community and soil structure, as well as significant losses to nearby agricultural crops. The loss of plant cover and soil organic matter (roots, rhizomes, tubers) results in severe erosion of soils, in some cases destroying marshlands and leaving behind open water.”
Nutrias resemble small beavers, but have long, rat-like tails. Adults are about 15-20 lbs., and can reach a body length of 2 feet plus a 1-1.5-foot tail. They become sexually mature at six months and a female can produce three litters a year with litters ranging from two to nine offspring.
Nutria are about a third the size of beavers but look very similar in face and body. They also live in similar settings as beavers, though they do not build dens or dams. They burrow into earthen banks with the entrances to burrows under the waterline of lakes, ponds, and marshes. Nutrias can be distinguished from beavers by their smaller size; sparsely-haired, rat-like tails; and their paler muzzles with white whiskers. Beavers can weigh up to 60 lbs.; have flat, hairless tails; and have dark muzzles with black whiskers.
The large rodents are a very destructive invasive species original imported from South America in the beginning of the 1900s for fur farming. When the U.S. fur industry largely collapsed in the 1940s, many were released. California has been free of the species for many years now, but recent sightings and captures indicate a resurgence of the species in the state’s waterways.
In other states where nutria have invaded, such as Louisiana, the animals are hunted. The meat is described as tasting similar to rabbit or squirrel and the pelts are described as mink-like. Some states even offer bounties, though California does not currently allow for hunting.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife requests that anyone who sees a nutria or potential nutria burrows report the sightings by email to Invasives@wildlife.ca.gov, or by calling 866-440-9530. — WLJ
