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Old August 7, 2002, 03:51 PM   #1
mattd
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Nutria Rats...

Anybody ever hunt Nutria Rats? I'd never even heard of 'em until I moved to the south a couple months ago. I've actually seen one, and Man they are UGLY! Big as a dog, and fairly aggressive from what I hear. I wasn't even sure if this qualifies as hunting, and wondered how one goes about it...just curious.
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Old August 7, 2002, 03:56 PM   #2
ballistic gelatin
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do you mean possum?
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Old August 7, 2002, 04:01 PM   #3
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Not a possum, it's an aquatic mammel - imported IIRC. I'll drop southla a line and see if he can help.
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Old August 7, 2002, 05:23 PM   #4
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Yeah, I'm from the PRK (People's Republic of Kalifornia) and I asked the same question. It was imported to eat up some kind of vine or weed or something. They live in the swamps and their fur appears to be like a beaver, insulated against water that is. But make no mistake, this thing is definetly a rat in every appearance. Anyway, I'd put it in the pest/varmit category I guess.
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Old August 7, 2002, 06:13 PM   #5
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From what I know about them(I've been away from home for 10+ years) is they are related to the rat and that are about the size of a beaver. When you are in the swamp at night they sound like a baby crying....spooky. They do trap them in the swamps and rice fields South Louisiana. The cajun chef K-Paul Prudhoume makes saugae out of them.
Thats about it. Mabe Mr Hebert may have some more info on thise critters

Cajun
PS I did a quick search on google and came up with this info page
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/F...20/nutria.html
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Old August 7, 2002, 06:50 PM   #6
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Wow...that's incredible. Thanks for the link. Might be investing in a .22 this weekend.
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Old August 7, 2002, 06:52 PM   #7
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The first thing about them to remember is they go just fine on da pit or smothered down in onions! (ain't that just like a coonass...........thinking about cooking them first?).

Y'all are right ............they were imported back in the 30's to Avery Island, La. (about 10 miles from me) by the McIlhenny's of Tabasco Pepper fame, and put in a cage on Avery Island. Some time later a hurricane destroyed the cage and they escaped into the marshes. They thrived there and are overrunning the state.

They destroyed most of the muskrats and the trappers started trapping them for their fur which makes good coats and stuff, however with the anti's the fur marked is off and they are overrunning everything. They are vegetarian and eat the marsh grass which leads to coastal erosion after it is gone. They have also seriously weakened levees in and around the New Orleans area.

No one that I know of actually "hunts" them per se. If some are needed for the pit a ride down a coastal canal with either a 12 gauge loaded with lead #5's, or a .22LR will do the job just fine. That approach also works at night with a Q-beam . (oops did I say that?).

The last I heard was a few months ago the state was looking into putting a bounty on them hoping to keep their numbers down. Jefferson Parish (county to you Yankees ) had a bounty on them a few years back and it was working..............the levee damage had dropped and the coastal grasses were recovering, but some of the do-gooders got word of it and the bounty was dropped ........................ then it was like in the movie "were backkkkkkkkkkkkk."

There is no doubt in my mind that they will never be totally eradicated. The best we can hope for is to control them. Any that I see are destined for the cooking pot.

The State of Louisiana has supposedly either opened a web page or is thinking of opening one to promote them for food value hoping to give incentives for control of them.

K-Paul Prudhomme has begin to push the use of them (even though he can't cook his way out of a wet paperbag . His sister Enola is a much better cook!!). If the effect is the same on nutria as was the effect he had on redfish, when he introduced blackened redfish that will be great.
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Old August 7, 2002, 09:33 PM   #8
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The dadgum things have even spread into central Texas! I've seen them swimming along in Town Lake, in downtown Austintatious. Unfortunately, it's a "No Shooting" zone.

Southla1, you forgot the most important part of all Cajun cooking, including instant coffee...

, Art
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Old August 7, 2002, 10:41 PM   #9
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I hate those things! I used to walk my dogs next to a pond at night and there was one in particular that would "follow" us all around the perimeter - 10 feet out in the water. It was about a 20 pounder, and it's very disconcerting to watch an animal following you at 0200 while walking the dogs. Not doing anything but paddling and watching... always watching. I got to the point where I'd have my Glock 30 in my hand as we walked along ready to shoot the thing if it got squirelly - screw the sleeping neighbors.

I hate them! Floating rats...
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Old August 8, 2002, 08:36 AM   #10
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Several points of fact to clarify.

First of all nutria are NOT rats and they are NOT closely related to rats as suggested here. They are not even in the same family as rats. New World rats and mice are from the family Cricetidae. Old World rats (like the Black and Norway rats) and mice are from the family Muridae. Nutria are from the family Capromyidae. People call nutria "nutria rats" because they look something like a giant rat with the typical scaly tail. That is simply a problem of associating generic rodent traits with a specific variety. Based on the teeth, skull, and jaw musculature, nutria appear to be more closely related to beavers (Castoridae) than to rats. From outward appearance with the exception of the tail, nutria look more like beavers than rats.

Calling a nutria a "nutria rat" is about as accurate as calling a Panda or Koala a bear as pandas are actually in the racoon family (Procyonidae) and Koalas are marsupials. Don't be fooled by common names that are descriptive, but inaccurate.

Another point. Nutria did not become hunted for their fur after they broke loose and out competed local fur bearing animals. Nutria were imported into LA originally for the express purpose of having growing the animals for their pelts. That is why they were brought into the states. Of course, the idea was about as smart as bringing Africanized bees into South America to try to step up honey production.

Unfortunately, farmed nutria produce pretty good pelts, but when allowed to go about their business in the wild, their pelts are not of a good enough quality to be used for clothing and so their economic value as a wild fur bearer is extremely low.

Lastly, they are not aquatic in a strict sense. Manatees, whales, and the like are aquatic. Nutria, beavers, and various other part time water mammals are semi-aquatic, spending part of their life on land, part in the water.
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Old August 8, 2002, 08:44 AM   #11
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Sounds like ya'll should be investing in some suppressed .22s.
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Old August 8, 2002, 09:22 AM   #12
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We hunt them here in the swamps, and feed them to the hunt dogs, used to be a lot of trapping here in this area to,but most have given up on it now.did read an article in some mag that the state government in LA was trying to set up an export deal with China,seems they like the meat over there.

We use high speed 22 shorts and walk the banks,for them
One thing though make sure they are DEAD before picking up they have some real NASTY teeth
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Old August 8, 2002, 11:49 AM   #13
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The Insomniac show with David *** did a piece on one of the southern LA departments that as part of animal control have the city's sniper doing double duty in animal control. They drive around in a pickup truck with a driver, spotter, and shooter. The spotter spots, the truck stops, and the shooter shoots the nutria using a bolt action suppressed .22 with a scope. What a great way to practice your art! Who better to do the job! What amazed me is that you can see other traffic around the vehicle as the guy is shooting. It is definitely all in town.
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Old August 8, 2002, 04:10 PM   #14
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Quote:
Because nutrias reproduce so quickly (one female can produce up to 150 young in 16 months and they appear to breed year round), they quickly exhaust the food supply in their areas and have to move on. This rapid reproduction and resulting crop and levee damage accounts for the nutria's classification as "vermin" in Louisiana.
some doods had a website back in 99 that was a Maryland league of Nutria hunters

they prefered Black rifles, AKs & .308 veprs

that made them blow up good... reeeal good
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Old August 8, 2002, 05:53 PM   #15
Southla1
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"southern LA departments that as part of animal control have the city's sniper doing double duty in animal control."


Can't swear to it but I think that was the Metarie PD that was doing that. Metarie adjourns New Orleans and is home to New Orleans International Airport (MSY).
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Old August 8, 2002, 08:41 PM   #16
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I just happened to have a fairly good recipe for 'smothered Nutria'. Not a bad way at all to cook the critters.

I just know this will set off a storm of competing Nutria recipies.

Smothered Nutria

One Nutria, dead of course, and as we say down here, dressed. This is not a
task for the faint of heart. You need about three pounds of meat.
Two onions, chopped
One bell pepper chopped
Four garlic cloves, minced
Two celery sticks, chopped
One quarter pound butter, (one stick)
Some flour, about a tablespoon
One half cup sliced mushrooms
One half cup red wine
Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
Diced parsely and scallions to top meat with

Method:
Melt butter in a heavy pan

Fry meat on medium heat until browned

Add vegetables and saute until they become soft

Add the wine and the mushrooms,

Cover, and simmer on low heat until the meat is tender, add water if needed
to keep meat covered with liquid

Remove meat, and some of the liquid. Add flour to the liquid to make a
paste. Add this paste back to the pot, stirring until the resulting gravy
is smooth. Add water if needed. Add salt, pepper and spices.

Arrange sliced meat on a platter, cover with gravy, top with parsly and
scallions

serve with blackeyed peas, collards and cornbread. Pass the buttermilk!!!
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Old August 8, 2002, 09:03 PM   #17
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eating Rats? I know, I know, it's NOT A Rat! But now, I've seen everything...sounds delicious, but the thought of eating a rat is, well, gross. Anyways, I talked to this guy on base in the barber shop today. He said much of the same, and that I may not need a hunting license because the state of LA has deemed these things a 'nuisance'. So, if I can go find me a little bolt-action .22 for a good price, I might be hunting Nutria's this weekend. Well see...
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Old August 8, 2002, 09:31 PM   #18
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as posted by Mannlicher

Quote:
I just happened to have a fairly good recipe for 'smothered Nutria'. Not a bad way at all to cook the critters.

I just know this will set off a storm of competing Nutria recipies.
And to think you used to manage a resturant.
BTW isn't that your recipe for smothered possum, coon, and 'dillo?

Quote:
The importance of the regulated harvest of nutria cannot be overstated: between 1962-1981 over one million nutria were harvested each year in Louisiana. During this time there was no damage to coastal wetlands. When changing market prices result in lower nutria harvests, coastal wetland damage from nutria becomes a problem. Alternatives to using regulated trappers to control nutria can be costly (if even practical) to society.
The above taken from: Trapping and Furbearer Management in North American Wildlife Conservation.

20 million nutria harvested. That's a lot of rodents! We have them here in North Florida. A buddy who works at a dairy has been told by the manager's to eradicate all the nutrias on the property do to damage to the land.
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Old August 8, 2002, 09:31 PM   #19
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Well having not ever eaten Nutria it might not be bad!

Can't be tougher, or taste worse than Mourning Dove can it?
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Old August 9, 2002, 03:01 AM   #20
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Here in Md they're considered vermin, tho I admit there's a few folks around that eat them. Recipes for muskrat and coon seem to work.

Word has it that Nutes are not entirely herbivorous. While not predators per se, they do eat eggs and fledgling birds.

The Traditional Bowhunters of Md have a Nute hunt every year,going after them with recurves, longbows, and broadheads.

One friend from the area takes them with a 357. Feeds them to his dog.
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Old August 9, 2002, 11:59 AM   #21
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Quote:
they prefered Black rifles, AKs & .308 veprs
that made them blow up good... reeeal good
LMAO! Last time I checked, Nutrias were .22 rimfire only in the great state of MD. But then, I doubt many cops are gonna wade out into the marsh to check your Ar15 to see if its shooting .223 or has a .22lr kit installed.

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Old August 9, 2002, 03:02 PM   #22
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"Yeah and sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie , but I'll never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the flithy &^%$#*(@!"

I think Samuel L. Jackson summed that up well.

Then again, if you are hungry enough you can eat anything, if you HAVE to.

I recall a Nutria Rat Shooters Militia (now defunct) that featured these guys in camo with serious hardware, (Ak's, AR's, Benellis etc) declaring war on the vermin. It was a very silly site.
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Old August 9, 2002, 04:27 PM   #23
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heres de olde link:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...threadid=16685
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Old August 9, 2002, 06:54 PM   #24
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Seriously guys, if you shoot the younguns (4-5 pounds or so) and smother the down with onions they taste JUST like rabbit...............no kidding guys.
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Old August 9, 2002, 08:25 PM   #25
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Southla1,

I'm gonna have to trust you on that one!


Kinda off topic, has anyone ever had any run ins with a Capabear? There have been a few killed here in North Florida in recent years, but I've never seen alive in the wild.

I did see a show on Discovery about them, and my first thought was that they were like very large nutria.
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