Invasive 20-pound rodents continue to spread in the Bay Area (nutria, kali-fornia)

SF Gate ^ | 10-2-24 | Amanda Bartlett

[dynachrome]

Close to a thousand nutria have been hunted down in California this year alone, and wildlife officials are urging people to share reports of the invasive, 2.5-foot-long rodents in the Bay Area as recent sightings caught on camera show they’ve spread to Contra Costa County, posing a risk to a critical watershed.

Krysten Kellum, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Bay Delta Region, and Matthew Slattengren, Contra Costa County agriculture commissioner, both confirmed the discovery in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to SFGATE, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

The wildly destructive rodents’ presence is cause for widespread concern. Now that they’ve made their way into the delta, which helps channel water to cities and farms across the entire state, it will be easier for them to disperse into other regions. Once there, they’ll continue tearing through wetland habitat, lead to significant losses in crops, and “weaken levees to the point of failure” as a result of their burrowing, Slattengren explained in an email.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Nutria! I remember 1957 when they were advertised as a money making proposition you could have in your own garage as the fur was worth $$$! Then they disappeared and everyone who got suckered into that ended up releasing their now worthless animals in the wild.
Kind of like Emu.

[ridesthemiles]

I would suspect that both are full of very nasty WORMS.

[BradyLS]

The Giant Rats of Sumatra.

[faucetman]

Move all the Haitian immigrants there!

[gnarledmaw]

I caught that and went back and re read it.

Oh, clearly he meant “milk our hogs”....wait a minute, no...

[Rappini]

They taste just like Chicken.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

A tale for which the world is not prepared...

[Mathews]

I was stationed on GITMO for 18 months. Nutria were common. Cubans love to eat these animals.

[fireman15]

In the ‘80s I had a gorgeous muskrat fur parka. They're a bit like nutria — similar but not matching

The pictures remind me of Mountain Beavers (Aplodontia rufa). They are not actually related to beavers and are considered endangered in California, but are considered a nuisance where we live.

vs nutria (swamp rat)

Mountain Beavers don't have tails and remind me of wild guinea pigs, except that they are extremely slow. They do not "chop down" trees but they cause a lot of damage to them by chewing off the bark at the base of the tree and also undermining the root system. They are a threat especially to conifers which are less than 20 years old. They can devastate areas which have been replanted after harvesting marketable timber.

We have rescued several over the years which were injured by our wiener dogs after they fell into our below grade patio while looking for water. They are interesting, cute and not very difficult to take care of while recuperating from their injuries.

Busted

[mass55th]

Send all the Haitians there, and the problem will be resolved quickly.

[blueunicorn6]

Great idea!

[linMcHlp]

DEI strength something global oceans fossil warming open borders rodent-phobic EVs

[Salman]

Otherwise known as muskrats.

Said to be good eating, but I do not know this from experience. {snicker}

[Omnivore-Dan]

They are edible and are eaten in central and south America. Some places in southern U.S. also.

[xone]

Get some Haitians.

[clearcarbon]

"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist."

DemRATs.