Quote:Nearly a thousand nutria have been hunted in the Bay Area this year, but sightings show the invasive 2.5-foot-long rodents have now spread to Contra Costa County, threatening a key watershed, according to a new report from SF Gate. Wildlife officials are urging the public to report any sightings.
 
Krysten Kellum, spokesperson for California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Matthew Slattengren, Contra Costa County agriculture commissioner, confirmed the discovery in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
 
The rodents pose a serious threat as they burrow through wetland habitats, damage crops, and can weaken levees, risking failure in a region that supplies water to cities and farms statewide.

The SF Gate report says that nutria can produce up to 200 offspring annually and consume up to 25% of their body weight daily, but destroy up to 10 times more, threatening endangered species and native plants. They also carry diseases like tuberculosis, septicemia, and parasites that can infect humans, pets, and livestock.

(10-05-2024, 03:06 PM)ArMaP Wrote: There's one difference between rats and nutrias, nutrias are herbivorous, not omnivorous.

Regarding the "200 offspring each year", I doubt it very much, as Wikipedia states the gestation period is 130 days and they have, at most, 13 offspring, which would give 39 offspring in little more than one year.

(10-05-2024, 05:15 PM)argentus Wrote: Man, you always come through with that measurable data which I crave.   Thank you ArMap

(10-05-2024, 07:20 PM)Lynyrd Skynyrd Wrote: Except the offspring nutria might also be breeding within that first year. He calculated for a single female when there might be 20 giving birth.