# Hey, back off!!!!!



## sandybottom

LOL...He was just eating grass. These guys are harmless if you don't pick them up. I don't think they can see real good because I got real close.
Someone asked me while at the Bay Park in Texas City what are the names of these animals...
Just in case some of you city slickers don't know they are called Nutria Rats.
Some people eat them. Ha! Not me! I'll stick to the picture taking and that's it. I bet they taste like chicken.


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## MichaelW

Nice shot Sandy. These guys get used to people being around and will let you get pretty close. New Braunfels has a few.


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## Formula4Fish

Yeah... Nice shot Sandy.

They're also known as Coypu, River Rat, and Swamp Rat.

A few interesting tidbits of info:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey nutria were first introduced the United States in California, 1899. They were first brought to Louisiana, USA in the early 1930s for the fur industry, and the population was kept in check, or at a small population size, because of trapping pressure from the fur traders. The earliest account of nutria spreading freely into Louisiana wetlands from their enclosures was in the early 1940s; a hurricane hit the Louisiana coast that many people were unprepared for and the storm destroyed the enclosures, enabling the nutria to escape into the wild. According to the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries, nutria were also transplanted from Port Arthur, TX to the Mississippi River in 1941 and then spread due to a hurricane later that year.

It is uncommon for individuals to live past three years old; according to one study, 80% of nutria die within the first year, and less than 15% of a wild population is over three years old.


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## The Machine

very nice


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## mikeloveslife

the gators love to eat them!!


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## griz

*Nice one*

Nice shot.

Griz


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## Texcam

Nice photo.

They have really fine soft fur.


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## allent2002

These guys are also bad for the enviroment as they burrow into Dikes and Lock Walls creating potential for leaks - In New Orleans area they had a task force that erradicates them on a regular basis. At least they did in the late 90's when I lived there.


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## motfua

as kids up north,, we would trap them and sell the fur to a trader to make extra spending money.
we'd get about $3 apiece for the stretched fur,,, course that was 50 years ago.


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## mchildress

We had a couple for pets as a kid. We would catch the little ones when frog gigging.


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