Nutria

[Tekky]

Re: Nutria

Stay strong soldier, fight the good fight and on your deathbed you might just achieve total consciousness. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Reverend Timmy]

Re: Nutria

Sir,Yes Sir!...

[lerxstcat]

Re: Nutria

TEKKY, I don't know if you're feeling some concern for the plight of the poor nutria, but there are some 20 million of them in the Southeast, destroying wetlands that native species need and destroying levees that protect communities from flooding, by burrowing in those levees. They are an absolute and dangerous pest. Also, that nutria.com saying they average 12 pounds is an understatement, I think. The one in my yard that time had to go 20 lbs., it was huge! So think of 12-20lb. hairy rats running rampant,
not very nice for kids and pets. Whoever introduced them from South America mad a big booboo, but they aren't native to these parts so making a strong effort to control them is necessary. They can have 2-1/2 litters per year, so exterminating them is impossible at the rate they breed. If there wasn't an effort to control them they might well lay waste to thois entire region.

[Ace]

Re: Nutria

I'm vegetarian and a big supporter of animal rights. However there are times we due to HUMAN error a species is introduced into a setting where it doesn't belong and they disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem. On several of the Channel Islands we have a problem with wild pigs that were introduced by man. These pigs tear up the local plants and cause a great many problems. It sucks, but they need to be gotten rid of for the sake of the other creatures that belong there. It would be nice if we could adopt them all out, or ship them back to whever the hell they came from, but those are both unfeasible solutions. The islands are sectioned off by fences and professional hunters come in and exterminate every last pig. I hate the fact that it has to be done, but it does. If we didn't fix the problem we made other species of animals and plants would be starved to extinction. There is a place for those pigs, just like there is a place for the nutria. However both those animals have been sadly misplaced.

[Jack The Riffer]

Re: Nutria

[ QUOTE ]
They were brought to Louisiana by some idiot that started a Nutria farm for their fur believe it or not. I think the story goes there was a storm and they got out of there cages and bred like rabbits. Now to have my Nutria brand bar, its low carbs.

[/ QUOTE ]

They were actually brought in by the Macilhenney family, The Tabasco Family, to remove Hyacinth from the waterways but their population exploded.

[SEEGERMANY]

Re: Nutria

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
They were brought to Louisiana by some idiot that started a Nutria farm for their fur believe it or not. I think the story goes there was a storm and they got out of there cages and bred like rabbits. Now to have my Nutria brand bar, its low carbs.

[/ QUOTE ]

They were actually brought in by the Macilhenney family, The Tabasco Family, to remove Hyacinth from the waterways but their population exploded.

[/ QUOTE ]

There ya have it! According to records written on bark, a Southern belle spotted the lovely blooms of the water hyacinth while on a trip to South America. To prevent disappointment, her bo brought the plant back to Louisiana. The hyacinth liked the conditions and proceeded to clog every phucking waterway in the state.

So, let's add to the problem and bring a furry little critter from South America that likes this hyacinth salad. Now, let's not forget that at this same time, Louisiana's alligator population had been decimated to the point they were listed as an endangered species. Well, the nutrias got fat on hyacinth and the gators got fat on the slow moving nutria. In fact, the gator population exploded and the state of Louisiana had to re-introduce a formal gator hunting season.

The really bad thing about nutrias is that they don't confine their diet to hyacinth. Homeowners that dwell lakeside have lost cypress trees, oak trees, various fruit trees and shrubbery. Most people that I know control nutrias with either 12 gauge no.4 shot or a slug from a .38.

The End [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Tekky]

Re: Nutria

[ QUOTE ]
TEKKY, I don't know if you're feeling some concern for the plight of the poor nutria, but there are some 20 million of them in the Southeast, destroying wetlands that native species need and destroying levees that protect communities from flooding, by burrowing in those levees. They are an absolute and dangerous pest. Also, that nutria.com saying they average 12 pounds is an understatement, I think. The one in my yard that time had to go 20 lbs., it was huge! So think of 12-20lb. hairy rats running rampant,
not very nice for kids and pets. Whoever introduced them from South America mad a big booboo, but they aren't native to these parts so making a strong effort to control them is necessary. They can have 2-1/2 litters per year, so exterminating them is impossible at the rate they breed. If there wasn't an effort to control them they might well lay waste to thois entire region.

[/ QUOTE ]

My comments were just for comedic value. My first post is a verbatim quote from Carl Spackler (Bill Murray's character in Caddyshack) I changed the word "gopher" with the word "nutria". Ace's picture looked to me a little like the gopher in the movie.

As far as the plight of the nutria... I didn't know they existed until this thread was started. I live in Chicago, we've got rats to worry about.

[xenophobe]

Re: Nutria

I'd say grab a .223 and a couple hundred rounds and have a day at it. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Just wait till they introduce Capybara to the US:

[Ace]

Re: Nutria

Looks like a cross between two popular pets. The dog and the rat.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Nutria

Wow, these things are a lot bigger than I thought... they're like little BEARS for frigg's sake... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: Nutria

Biggest rodents in the world.

[lerxstcat]

Re: Nutria

Yeah, up to 2 feet tall, 4 feet long and 145 pounds!! They say they can be pretty mellow when tamed, and the meat is white, with a porklike taste but with a hint of fishiness.
Luckily they basically run and hide from danger, those teeth could be pretty horrendous if they attacked you. They are pretty widely eaten in South America, especially Venezuela,
which got the local Catholic authorities to declare them a FISH so they could be eaten during Lent, LOL! They say Lent without capybara is like Thanksgiving without turkey.
I think I'd just eat veggies during Lent instead!

[Shotgun]

Re: Nutria

[ QUOTE ]
I'd say grab a .223 and a couple hundred rounds and have a day at it. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]



[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly what Orleans Parish Sheriff Harry Lee did while I lived in New Orleans: he allowed / encouraged his SWAT teams to run the canals and shoot them. Seriously.

The first reference I could find to prove that I'm not making that up is here:

http://www.southerner.net/v3n1_2002/nutria1.html

Keith

[mm2002]

Re: Nutria

Hell, you guys are worried about those little Nutrias?? You oughta see the giant Hamsters we have down in these parts! If you shoot 'em it just pisses 'em off! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[RacerX]

Re: Nutria

Nutria Recipes

http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/special/recipes.htm

Mmmm, I'm hungry