Question: I own property in Merced and I have some concerns about the Central Valley nutria discovery. I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, but what signs should I be looking out for? Can I have someone come out and survey my property to make sure they’re not here, just for my own peace of mind? (Ann)
Answer: Nutria are large, invasive and destructive rodents from South America. Due to their extensive herbivory and burrowing habits, they can have devastating impacts on wetland habitats, agriculture and water conveyance infrastructure. To date, nutria have been found in six Central Valley counties (Merced, Stanislaus, Fresno, Mariposa, Tuolumne and San Joaquin).
If nutria take up residence in habitat on your property, you will probably start to notice the damage pretty quickly. Nutria consume up to 25 percent of their body weight in plant material each day. They are very wasteful feeders that prefer the submerged portions or tender tips of plants such as bulrush and cattails. Look for large areas of cleared (eaten) vegetation, stem cuttings left floating or grazed tops of new growth at the water surface. Their feeding causes extensive damage to the plant community, soil structure and nearby agricultural crops.
Nutria also burrow into banks and levees, creating complex dens that span as far as 6 meters deep and 50 meters into the bank. This can cause severe streambank erosion, increased sedimentation, levee failures and roadbed collapses. Nutria burrows – which can be misidentified as muskrat burrows – look like large holes in dirt banks. See examples at www.wildlife.ca.gov/nutria. Vegetation damage is much easier to spot.
CDFW has deployed nutria survey and trapping teams in the Delta and throughout the San Joaquin Valley, but we need landowners’ help! If you have received a letter from CDFW requesting written permission to enter or cross your property for the purpose of nutria work, please sign and return that form as soon as possible. If you have not received a form but believe nutria are on your property, please contact us at (866) 440-9530 or invasives@wildlife.ca.gov. Currently, we have limited staff available to respond and are prioritizing our efforts, but the public continuing to assist with identifying new locations of nutria is critical to the success of this effort.
Chadrock:
Heard they make decent stew.
CaddyChris:
Can we hunt them with pellet guns? What is the best way to differentiate between them and musk rats while swimming? Edit: I just saw the other post. Thanks!
CGN-38:
:smt006 I think differences are the Nutria are larger than muskrats. Only saw one while working up in Oregon at Intel. I saw what looked like a fat possum sized rat skittering along an edge of a pond and didn’t know what it was, so I asked a coworker when I got inside WTH it was I saw.
oldfart:
--- Quote from: Chadrock on June 07, 2018, 05:22:01 PM ---Heard they make decent stew.