Northwest Fishing Reports

I posted a topic here a while back on the Nutria population in Lk Wa.Lately while on my morning walks I've noticed 4 Nutrias now.they swim in a single line close to shore right near the Lakewood Boathouse.These critters are big and dont fear humans that much.In the Leschi area I seen a few more.I fear the population is growing rapidly.I hope the state dosent wait till there are thousands before culling them off or better yet exterminate them.I fish the west side of Lk Wa.Anyone seeing them on the east side of Lk Wa.?The swim like a beaver but they have a reddish fur almost orange tint.

Maybe the State could place a bounty on those like the pike-minnows.

if anyone like myself was wonderin heres a pic and decription of a nutria



Description
Adult nutria are about 24 inches long from the nose to the base of the tail. The tail itself is 12 to 17 inches long, round, and hairless. Coloration is brownish, and both sexes are similar in appearance and weight. The nutria is unique in that it has 3 sets or lengths of fur. Primary guard hairs are about 3 inches in length. Beneath this layer is the secondary guard hairs, which are more numerous and give the species its overall coloration. The underfur is short, and less dense than either a muskrat or beaver underfur.
The whiskers on a nutria are obvious. These whiskers are about 4 inches in length, and very numerous. Teeth number 20, and include 4 large incisors, and allows the nutria to cut off underwater plants without getting water into its mouth. The mouth also has glands located near the corners which produce oils that the nutria uses to comb and waterproof its fur. Nutria average 16 to 18 pounds in weight. Occasional individuals may weigh 25 pounds or more. Also unique is the location of the mammary glands on the females. The teats are locate high on the sides of the nutria, which allows young nutria to nurse as the mother swims in the water.
Front feet have five toes, including a small toe corresponding to our thumb. Hind feet are much larger, and unique in that all toes are connected by a skin web except for the toe corresponding to our little toe.

As demand for coypu fur declined, coypu have since become pests in many areas, destroying aquatic vegetation, irrigation systems, chewing through human-made items, such as tires and wooden house panelling in Louisiana, eroding river banks, and displacing native animals. Coypu were introduced to Louisiana in the 1930s for fur, for example, and nutria damage in Louisiana became so severe that in 2005, a bounty program was in effect to aid in controlling the animal.[9] In the Chesapeake Bay region in Maryland, where they were introduced in the 1940s, coypu are believed to have destroyed 7,000 to 8,000 acres (2,800 to 3,200 ha) of marshland in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. In response, by 2003, a multi-million dollar eradication program was underway.[10]

Coypu were also introduced to East Anglia, again for fur, in 1929; many escaped and damaged the drainage works, and a concerted program by MAFF eradicated them by 1989.

Thanks Chris for that.I tried another page but I couldnt get the pics to load.

Heres the original post


http://washingtonlakes.com/forum/yaf_po ... hting.aspx

i believe they showed them to be good eating on "bizarre foods by andrew zimmerman" which is on the travel channel. :chef: just in time for something different for thanksgiving :thumright

there's a hairy critter in Lake Boren that I've seen the last 2 years. Swims in the water just under the surface next to the dock. I don't know whether its a nutria, muskrat, small otter, or just a big rat out for a swim

I grew up very near there and spent many hours fishing Boron and Coal Creek, over the years I've spotted muskrats in the lake and I have spotted beavers in the surounding water sheds. Mind you that was years ago when it was all wooded.

Shad_Eating_Grin wrote:there's a hairy critter in Lake Boren that I've seen the last 2 years. Swims in the water just under the surface next to the dock. I don't know whether its a nutria, muskrat, small otter, or just a big rat out for a swim

I see the same thing every once in a while in Lake Washington....It's definitely not an otter, I'm thinking rat/nutria/muskrat...Dunno which one, but its weird looking....

For those that are interested in additional information regarding nutria see -

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/nutria.htm

Tight lines
Curt

I saw one of these little turds up here at Deer lake on Whidbey. It scared the crap out of me, because it was right by the boat. Too small to be a beaver, and not an otter. Nutria huh? Looked like a giant rat...I heard they were up here.

I lived in New Orleans for 5 years. There were so many of these guys that the city once made it legal to shoot them on sight. I remember nights where SWAT teams and cops would drive down all the canals and do drive-bys. It was pretty entertaining though the shots were pretty scary. I thought there was a gang fight or something (lots of those down there too). In the morning, there would be nutria bodies everywhere. Down there, the nutria is like what the raccoon is up here. http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/20 ... pers_.html