As the afternoon breeze blows tall grass over a hillside in Juneteenth Park in southern Harris County, a hiker spots something that seems out of place — a large brown creature that appears to be part beaver and part something else.
It’s a nutria, an invasive, 2-foot-long rodent native to South America that has become a growing environmental concern. They can be found near waterways throughout the Houston area.
Where does nutria come from?
“They were brought here in 1889, I think for the fur trade. They’re in a number of states, with Louisiana being the largest,” said Chris Vazquez, animal care specialist at the Armand Bayou Nature Center in Pasadena.
After all, raising nutria for fur didn’t seem like such a good idea.
“In the 1940s, a lot of people released them,” Vazquez said.
Others escaped. The result is an animal that thrived in warmer parts of the nation and has spread to much of Texas, dozens of states, and some European countries.
Where do nutria live?
Nutria live in burrows near the water. At Juneteenth Park, which is off Blackhawk Road, a coypu was recently seen swimming in the stream that runs through the park, showing its sleek fur above the water. Then it suddenly disappeared and never surfaced again.
It was a telltale sign that a burrow was nearby. The nutria probably crawled into the burrow and then made its way to another chamber filled with air. Its front legs are equipped with claws perfect for easily digging underwater tunnels, its hind legs are mostly webbed and are in front of a rat-like tail.
“They resemble alligators. There will be a water tunnel up to three meters long and then a piece of land with air pockets. They’re just going to hang around there,” Vazquez said.
How nutria harm the environment
That’s a problem with the nutria, which can weigh up to 20 pounds. These caves along the water’s edge can cause the ground to collapse and lead to erosion.
On land, nutria feed on native plants that hold the soil of wetlands together, posing a threat to coastal swamps.
“They will eat the roots and the roots will support the land. All of this is eroding the land, destroying native grasses,” Vazquez said. “They can take over and do serious damage. If you don’t replant the grasses, they won’t come back on their own.”
Nutria are breeding machines.
“They explode like crazy,” Vazquez said. “If they are a pair, they can have two full litters (of four to five cubs each) within a year and be pregnant with a third by the end of the year.
“About nine months after birth, these nutrias can have babies.”
What is being done to control nutria?
Vazquez believes nutria control efforts in the region have not been enough.
In Louisiana, the federally funded Coastwide Nutria Control Program (CNCP) offers $6 per nutria tail to any hunter or trapper registered with the program. The goal is to remove 400,000 coypu per season, which runs from November 20th to March 31st.
In Texas, property owners can kill nutria on their land without having a hunting or trapping license, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In areas where hunting is legal, anyone with a hunting license can kill unlimited nutria as long as the pelts are not sold or bartered for something of value, the ministry said.
The department advises residents against feeding nutria.
Traps are a way to remove the rodent from its property. Sweet potatoes and carrots are the best way to lure a nutria into a trap. Captured animals should be taken to a local animal welfare office.
“They can really destroy a habitat,” Vazquez said.
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