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California's 20-pound invasive nutria problem could be worse than previously imagined
www.sfgate.com ^ | Updated 4:00 am PDT, Friday, August 17, 2018 | By Eric Ting

Posted on 08/17/2018 1:49:53 PM PDT by Red Badger

For the small six-person team tasked with combating California's nutria infestation, a typical day consists of working in 100-degree weather, wading through marshes and avoiding traps built to catch 20-pound rodents, targeting about 2 million acres.

Nutria, a destructive rat-like mammal, is currently burrowing into central California's wetlands. In the spring, the Department of Fish and Wildlife began to warn the public about the dangers of the animal, which devastate agricultural infrastructure by burrowing into levees, roadbeds and canal beds.

But in the past few months, only 200 nutria have been exterminated, 100 of which were found in a pond on a single private farm in central California.

As the agency prepares for an intensive survey of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, officials say they have no idea what the actual numbers of nutria will look like. In April, there were two confirmed sightings of nutria just outside the delta, a region critical to California's waterways.

"We can't guess, we have no idea what we're going to find in there," California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira told SFGATE. "We need to survey and see to what extent they're in there, we haven't determined a complete range of nutria in the region."

"Our goal is to keep the nutria out of the delta as much as possible," Tira said. "That's the epicenter of our water control and flood control in California."

The Department of Fish and Wildlife isn't expected to get people on the ground in the delta until later this month, since they are still in the process of getting permission from farmers and other landowners to access private property. Most of the land in the delta is private.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: ca; california; nutria; rats; rodents
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To: Figment
Some do. Marinated right and some Zatarains or Tony's. 👹👍🏼🍻🇺🇸
101 posted on 08/17/2018 8:22:36 PM PDT by rktman (Enlis ted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: Red Badger

looks like a woodchuck.


102 posted on 08/17/2018 8:23:43 PM PDT by cherry (official troll)
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To: fieldmarshaldj
Or tell the Japanese that the nutria dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The first use of nutria weapons in war?

103 posted on 08/17/2018 8:25:42 PM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: rktman

Don’t ever run over a Nutria carcass bloated in the hot sun. You’ll abandon the car by the side of the road. The stench is other-worldy!


104 posted on 08/17/2018 8:56:12 PM PDT by pingman ("I ain't in no ways tarred.." of WINNING!)
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To: Bartholomew Roberts
Ship them to the Everglades to feed the pythons!

Why not introduce the pythons to the Delta. What could go wrong?

105 posted on 08/18/2018 7:29:06 AM PDT by Oatka
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To: marktwain
Actually I think the CA hunting regs could be understood as allowing unlimited taking of nutria by firearm. (Where hunting is allowed.)

But ask a game warden to be sure ...

106 posted on 08/18/2018 12:21:32 PM PDT by Campion
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To: Buckeye McFrog

They’re from South America. The Tobasco people brought them to Louisianna in the thirties, to start selling them for fur farms. They escaped, and now they’re everywhere.


107 posted on 11/24/2018 6:49:51 PM PST by gundog
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To: Red Badger

They look like woodchucks.


108 posted on 11/24/2018 8:32:14 PM PST by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
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To: metmom

Tastes like chicken?.........................


109 posted on 11/26/2018 6:07:37 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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To: Red Badger

When TSHTF, we’ll find out.

Otherwise I have no intention.


110 posted on 11/26/2018 8:51:54 AM PST by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith......)
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To: metmom

Nutria.......The OTHER white meat!................


111 posted on 11/26/2018 9:06:41 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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