It was a successful release!

The three young nutrea are now happily deposited into their new digs. I took a ton of pictures, will post them soon. They all three took off down the creek once released, and there is plenty of food for them so they should be fine. It is a good feeling to do right by critters.

Good! I'm dying to see what one of these nutrea looks like...actually, I'm gonna go do an image search on google for them. You know what curiosity did to the cat!

I'm glad you were able to take care of them!
Oh, interesting...it's sort of a badger/possum/beaver/ furry thing.

Mike calls them a cross between a beaver, otter and rat.......

Those nutrea were lucky to find you .
On one of my trips to Louisiana, I took a hokey swap tour in an airboat(it was actually a lot of fun - the son of the tour operator took my SO and me on a twilight tour...but I digress), and nutria were everywhere. The waters are teeming with them. They are absoultely seen as pests there.
Ages ago, there was a market for their pelts but that bottomed out. Some folks tried to use 'em in their cooking but from what I've been told, they're not tasty and require lots of seasoning (not a problem in LA cooking though!).
I'm glad the little guys have found a good home. They are kind of cute (the clacking sound they make with their teeth is sort of freaky though).
I'll look in the news for stories about a nutria population explosion in Oregon .

The state is already flooded with them. But they, like all creatures deserve a chance, and placing them far away from the trigger happy hunters, they might just have that chance now. Plus they all turned out to be females, so hopefully the family will remain as only 3

I missed the earlier posts about the babies. I didn't realize they were so plentiful in OR. Then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
It's a good thing they found their way to you. The odds are not in favor of animals considered by others to be pests. My folks are having problems with an armadillo and wanted to trap the critter and re-release it. Animal Control told them, "You can't trap it and re-release it because it's a non-native animal to the area. But, you can exterminate it." Needless to say, the armadillo is still mucking about in the area . They have been able to trap and re-release raccoons though. I'm surprised one hasn't ended up as a pet since my mum thinks they're cute .

Originally posted by Vikki
"You can't trap it and re-release it because it's a non-native animal to the area. But, you can exterminate it."

Click to expand...

Well, there's some great logic and compassionate thinking. Sheesh.
So, can you chase it away making loud noises and waving your arms, or is that considered too humane for a non-native animal? Poor things, not like it's their ideal situation. Like armadillos said, "Hey, let's go to Texas and bug people and mess up their cars when they hit us."

Hissy - that is great news. I hope they will do well. I had never heard of them before! Can't wait to see a few pics.
Deb M.

Hissy - That's great news. I bet the nutrea are happy now.

My husband and I used to live in Las Colinas (here in the DFW area), and there were tons of canals and parks built there. It was a very nice place and we had a great apartment that overlooked the canals. Everyone would go walking around the park, and there were nutrea everywhere. We had never seen them before, but they sure were cute. We saw baby nutrea in the spring too, and they were so neat. However, they were considered pests in that area (I guess because they're not indigenous to the area) so animal control was out there a lot.

I bet your guys are happy to be in the wild. Much more appropriate place than in the middle of suburbia.

Pics! I can't wait to see em!

I am so glad everything went well!! I can't wait to see the pictures of these little guys!

When I lived in New Orleans a nutrea got lost somehow and ended up walking down the middle of Charteres st in the French Quarter. Needless to say all the tuorists who arn't from the south started screaming and panicking about the "giant mutant rat!" The poor thing, it got down into a sewer drain and dissapeared. It was hilariouse though to see all those people going crazy!

related to a fisher cat?

A fisher cat? Jeez, this site is teaching me about animals I've never heard of.


Debby, what was that animal you said you had? I can't find the post...a rabasi?

More image searches on google...

Looks like a cross between a otter a rat and a dauchshond - kinda short and stubby with a big thick tail and a kinda cat like but more ottery face - and they will eat your cats - at least up here in MA... little :censor::censor::censor::censor::censor::censor::censor:s..... I watched a show on them and they are very smart and very determined little hunters. Just wondering if the Nutrea was related!

I have never heard of nutreas...they sound weird and interesting though. I tried doing a search for them, but I couldn't find anything. Can't wait to see the pictures!