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 ...
You left out "road kill".
Thanks Red Badger. I didn't look, but there must be plenty of jokes in this thread. :^)
It could be based on truth.
I am working on a story about a friend of mine (he is 100). In the 1950s he and his partner went to Canada and shot wolves from the air for bounty.
In addition to the $25 bounty, they sold the complete wolf to the Indians in the area for another $25. That made $50 a wolf, when the minimum wage was 75 cents. So each wolf was the equivalent of 1.6 weeks of work for minimum wage. They brought in 51 wolves in three weeks. The story made national news.
It is well documented. I even have pictures.
Supposedly some Guys my Niece knows went out and shot 30 Feral Hogs in one Night.
At least that’s the third hand story my Wife told me. LOL
I’m not sure if they can keep the Carcasses, but that kind of money would buy a whole lot of Bacon.
What we need here is a gobblement PRO-gram...getcha hole bunch a rat instructors to go into the Nutria school systems, and teach all them little rat-faced critters the joys, the thrills, the downright high-livin-est extasies of the homo-rat-sexualist lifestyle, and their inalienable right to wallow in the trough of same-sex indulgence. Make sure they all know how ridiculously passé opposite sex relations are, and how only hateful, stupid rats procreate. And teach them about abortions, just in case they put tab A into slot B by mistake. Problem solved, all by the magic of the Gobblement that knows everything, so you don’t have to.
My Dad used to shoot sparrow in rural Michigan for a Nickle bounty. This would be in the late 1920s, I think. He told me that a single .22 round would cost a Penny, so he had to learn to shoot accurately to make a profit!
When I was growing up there was a nutria farm near us , the fur was supposedly comparable to minx.
Tell the Mexicans that nutria are valuable and that it’s illegal to steal them.
That’ll solve the problem.
The only answer to that kind of fraud is a Temporary Bounty only paying for full grown Animals.
There's a joke in there but I wouldn't be allowed to tell it. The word you wanted was "minks".
The pope (1600’s, I think) said you could eat them during Lent.
Armadillos are so cute up close. I love their tiny ears. My husband & I watched one roaming the yard one evening.
Just stay away from the plum duff
Of course, there are always secondary effects.
Nutria might be a problem, as they are fast breeders.
One possible aid is to limit the bounty to full carcasses in specified locations, leading to transportation difficulties for cheaters.
Don’t count on it...I can see spellchecker suggesting either “lynx” or “manx” as well.
Only if you eat uncooked armadillo meat.
can’t they let the Chinese restaurant owners “pick their own”, like strawberries? they’d be put to good use! and maybe a fur coat with every $50.00 purchase.
So were not talking about the dominant political party running California?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.