Nutria - Myocastor coypus
In California, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is encouraging people to eat nutria, an invasive rodent. They suggest that the meat is lean, mild, and tastes like rabbit. Nutria.com has recipes for nutria dishes like chili, jambalaya, and gumbo. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has promoted eating nutria as one way to combat their spread, using the slogan "Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria."
Nutria, native to South America, are considered invasive in California and other parts of the US, causing damage to wetlands and ecosystems. In California, nutria are classified as a nongame mammal, and property owners or those with written permission can take them at any time by any legal means to address damage to crops or property.
In 1980, two Nutria (Myocastor coypus) were trapped in New Jersey’s salt marshes along the Delaware River in Salem County. At that time, the nutria was listed as a furbearer, so the species could be trapped during the state’s trapping season. This was done in the hope that the species would be eliminated from the state. Each year, the state includes nutria on its list of species that can be trapped, but trappers that have responded to the annual Trapper Harvest, Recreational and Economic Survey have not recorded the harvest of any nutria since the species was listed on the survey questionnaire, and I have not seen any update to that.
It seems that nutria may not be currently found in New Jersey - which is a good thing. While they are an invasive species in parts of the U.S., particularly in the Gulf Coast states and the Chesapeake Bay region, they have not established populations in New Jersey. The state’s colder winters likely limit their ability to survive and reproduce. However, if you think you've seen one, it could be a muskrat, which is a native species that looks somewhat similar.
How did they come to the U.S.? Nutria were intentionally introduced into North America because of their fur value. The
first nutria were imported in 1899 from South America to Elizabeth Lake, California for
fur farming. These nutria were not successful in reproducing, and very little information
is available regarding their fate.
Between the years of 1899 and 1940, ranches were established in California, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, New Mexico, Louisiana, Ohio, Utah and elsewhere. The 1930s were the boom years for the establishment of nutria ranches in the United States. After the boom years, World War II came, and nutria farming took a nosedive.
This collapse can be attributed to poor reproduction, low fur prices, and competition with beaver pelts, which were also bringing low prices. A number of the nutria ranchers released their nutria or did nothing to recapture those that escaped due to poor holding facilities, storms or floods.
Individuals and state and federal agencies moved nutria into at least thirty states in the United States and populations have established themselves and remain, at least in some degree in about eighteen of those states, mainly throughout the south. This is because nutrias can tolerate winters in temperate areas only.
Currently, there is virtually no commercial fur market and only a very small meat market for nutria. This situation combined with the uncaged animals' reproductive success, has led to a population boom throughout much of their introduced range.
Nutria have a negative impact on most other wildlife species. Because the species is colonial in habitat, nutria will over-harvest the edible plants within their home range destroying the productivity of the desirable plant species resulting in the production of less favored foods for themselves and other wildlife species. Large populations of nutria have a negative impact on the ability of the habitat to support both muskrats and waterfowl because of this habitat destruction.
About 14 inches long from the nose to the base of the tail, an adult nutria’s tail is 12 to 17 inches long, round, and hairless. Nutria average 16 to 18 pounds in weight and may occasionally weigh 25 pounds or more. Nutria are brownish, and both sexes are similar in appearance, size, and weight.
One male normally has 2 or 3 mates that share the same burrow. Female nutrias are sexually mature at about 5 1/2 months of age, and female nutria usually have two litters per year. Normally, female nutria are capable of producing only 6 litters in their lifetime. A nutria is old at four years of age.
