Posted on 04/15/2006 4:44:36 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SEATTLE - A water-loving rodent native to South America that has destroyed thousands of acres of wetlands in the southeast has been spotted near Lake Washington.
Nutria are semi-aquatic, chocolate-colored rodents that can weigh more than 20 pounds and eat one-quarter of their weight a day in crops and plants of all varieties. Also called coypu, or swamp rats, they burrow through marshes and levies, and females can produce more than a dozen offspring a year.
A trapper recently caught nine along the shores of Lake Washington. Two University of Washington students are studying the rodents to determine where they may show up next.
"It's a pretty ominous picture when you bring nutria into an area where they didn't exist before," said Mike Davison, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. "There is no way of winning on this if nutria establish."
A statewide Invasive Species Council was recently created to track nutria and other invasive plant and animal species, and to find methods for removing them.
The council will include six state agencies and two counties and will work with federal and other government agencies, business, tribal and nonprofit groups. It plans to meet in coming months.
"Having an Invasive Species Council is a big step forward," said Joan Cabreza, invasive species coordinator with the Northwest regional office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Washington has lagged behind states like Oregon and Idaho that already have such councils that work to prevent introduction of invasive species. Without such a council, no single agency had the authority to act, Cabreza said.
"If you can get on these things early and get people to understand how important it is, the impact is really small," said Bill Brookreson, deputy director for the state Agriculture Department.
Nationally, nutria are found in at least 15 states, including Louisiana, Texas, the Carolinas, Florida, Maryland and Oregon.
In the 1930s and '40s, they were raised in Washington and elsewhere for their fur. They're vulnerable to cold and flooding, though, and it's believed they died out of the Puget Sound region over the years.
Populations have established in southwest Washington, near Vancouver, where they've turned local dikes to "Swiss cheese," said Davison.
Last summer, more than a dozen were caught in Skagit County in a state-led control effort.
Davison helped in the project in Skagit County, where agricultural and forestry industries and reliance on levies make the area vulnerable to the pests. Traps are still being laid and nutria caught are killed.
Milder weather could have helped the nutria spread into the Puget Sound area, as well as a lack of predators like caiman and alligators in their native environment.
Armed with large packs, camera gear and notebooks, UW students Phu Van and Filip Tkaczyk are documenting where the interlopers are living, how many there are and what they're eating. They're focusing on an area of fields and wetlands north of Husky Stadium.
Along the shoreline, the large rodents have flattened grass and cattails, creating "runways" as they travel from the water to dens to fields where they graze among the Canada geese.
Ed Cunningham, a Highline High School educator who also runs a trapping business, was called this winter by a Lake Washington resident who wanted the rodents removed.
He used bait and wire cages to trap nine of the rodents over a couple of weeks in February and March.
"What we need to do is get some sterile alligators that like cold water," joked Cunningham. "I'm not going to get them all."
A nutria makes its way ashore at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Md. in this Friday, Aug. 13, 1999, file photo. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea)
illegal rats invading ,, being tracked and monitored so we know there whereabouts,, and we can't even begin to track all the other illegals here already.
Why does that seem funny in a way?
Seems there was a horror movie some years back called "Nutria".
"The Nutria that ate the NOLA dikes"
Oh, wait.
should have read the article. :-}
they've been here since the 30s and 40s when they were raised here.. I guess they're kind of like a lot of commie rats that came here about the same timeframe, but have now crossed over and become perhaps more of a danger than earlier thought by some.
Looks like they've had a long ride here, they did Hollywood and are now seeking new pastures or should I say fields of nourishment. ;-)
We need a sequel to that movie..
LOL. Didn't take log for this post to start circling the drain.
By the way, that wasn't a nutria eating the dykes, it were a beaver.
With the number and size of the typical Seattle rodent, more commonly known as voters, these critters don't stand a chance.
You got two words reversed.
I'll bet these rodents don't take showers either.
They're not illegal anymore, they been here through many generations.
Amnesty for swamp rats! They're simply eating crops American rats don't want to eat.
Coats! Beautiful soft fur coats, a lot like beaver. Wish I had some of the little rascals in my yard. Bring 'em on!
Perhaps if they were armed with a couple of M1911's there wouldn't be such a problem after the semester was over. And some coeds might get some nice new fur coats.
another research project gone bad.
apparently there was and is a market for the fur , a bulk of them are trapped in louisiana and texas, they don't like cold weather tho and mess up the environment for beaver and waterfowl alike..
http://www.nationaltrappers.com/nutria.html
DINSDALE !
Glad to see you're still here, Norm!
They're just here doing the work that American rats don't want to do.
HaPPY Easter to ALL!
except for folks that aren't into Easter and 'stuff' like that. ;-)
Anyone from the area can tell you how big of a problem the geese have become. There are so many they've made Lake Washington a bio-hazard and turning bordering lawns into green slip and slides.
A few years back U.S. Fish and Wildlife netted a couple of thousand of them and trucked them to the Dakotas. Along the way a "few" of the geese died and the public went ballistic...no more catch and release.
Alive and kicking :) Thanks!
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