Nutria are outlaws: an invasive species that wipes out wetlands, devours crops, and digs into dams – so feared it has its own profile.
Imported from South America for their fur decades ago, nutria have been chewing their way north on Hampton Roads for years. Until recently, the James River restricted them to the South Side.
But now they have broken through the Great Wall and entered uncharted territory where the conditions are ripe for a population explosion.
Sightings are reported from Hampton to Mathews County, but the only confirmed presence is on the Chickahominy River, northwest of Williamsburg.
The infiltration was likely started from Surry County, which nutria was expanded to some time ago.
“The James isn’t that wide there, and it only takes a pregnant woman to swim,” said Todd Engelmeyer, regional biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. “It’s a miracle that nothing like this has ever happened before.”
The environmental threat now has a clear path to the Potomac River, where it could cross to Maryland – a state recently declared nutria-free after a 20-year search and destruction campaign worth $ 25 million.
“The last thing we want to see is for you to come back here,” said Jonathan McKnight, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources in Maryland. “When I look south in Virginia, I really worry – for your sake and for our sake.”
The semi-aquatic rodents, which can exceed 20 pounds, usually prefer wetlands. With large orange teeth, they indulge their taste for plant roots, consume a quarter of their body weight every day and create dead zones known as “eat outs”.
Coastal marshes become Wadden Sea, then open water. Erosion is getting worse. And the vital rearing and feeding places for all kinds of fish, poultry and blue crabs are disappearing.
“They have some of the most beautiful tidal wetlands in the world,” said McKnight, “and they serve the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem that we share. To get in nutria and let it run would be the ultimate folly and irresponsibility. “
Federal money funded Maryland’s nutria war – funding now up for grabs on the next front. About $ 12 million is on the table to be divided among the states that may have the greatest needs.
Virginia contracts its place. Experts evaluate ecological and economic effects. Signs have been posted at about 50 boat ramps north of the James, instructing the public to keep an eye out and report sightings.
So far, most of the reports checked out have resulted in muskrats – slightly more shy and smaller, but with similar traits, including long, rat-like tails.
“But muskrats are local,” McKnight said. “They eat the tops of the plants instead of the roots so they don’t damage the swamp.”
Dog teams helped locate the colonies in Maryland, where the invasion history was the same as elsewhere.
You have settled in at least 16 states. Females can give birth to up to three litters per year with up to 13 cubs per year, and they are ready to reproduce again within 48 hours of birth. Predators like foxes and coyotes have a hard time getting deep enough into the swamp lawn.
Virginia has never carried out a large-scale attack – just a year-round hunting season on the pesky species. Other states have tried a patchwork of methods. Bounties. Poisonous bait. Birth control. Nobody did the trick.
Efforts to find uses for nutria haven’t spurred much commercial harvests. Some meat is used in dog treats, but attempts to push it onto plates have failed.
Just as Maryland needs Virginia to protect its flanks, Virginia needs North Carolina. McKnight, of Maryland, said the fight money was vital.
“Only federal agencies have pockets deep enough to eradicate nutria, and only a concerted government effort can get the job done,” he said. “You have to send people into the field to get to these animals. You have to kill them all. “
Maryland’s interventions use a tactic known as “judas nutria” – which involves capturing, sterilizing, radio-collaring, releasing, and tracing individuals to their colonies. As soon as the nutria were found, they were shot or captured with deadly traps.
“I’m not surprised they jumped the James in Virginia,” McKnight said, explaining that a colony of about 50 animals appeared to have reached Maryland by swimming across Chesapeake Bay.
“At the next point – if you had a GPS and have planned the trip – we speak of a 6 mile swim.”
Nutria or muskrat?
Biologist Todd Engelmeyer agrees that some of the differentiators mentioned online are too “subtle” to help most people distinguish a nutria from a muskrat.
Like their tails: Nutrias are “round” and muskrats are “furrowed”. Color: shades of brown – not helpful. Size: Statistics can be close enough – especially in young animals – that they’re difficult to assess in real life.
Tips for Identifying Nutria – Swimming Style: The profile looks like two bumps, with both the head and buttocks held high above the surface. White whiskers: Like “Grandpa’s mustache. Orange front teeth: So big and bright that they can hardly be overlooked.
