![]() ![]() Burrowing causes the most noticeable damage. Nutria damage is evident to varying degrees in every area they are found. Nutria may also construct burrows in levees, dikes and embankments. They often construct circular platforms of compacted, coarse emergent vegetation, which they use for feeding, birthing, resting and grooming. Nutria predominately feed on the base of plant stems and dig for roots and rhizomes in the winter. These animals consume approximately 25 percent of their weight daily. Nutria are strict vegetarians, consuming their food both on land and water, where they shove aquatic plants to their mouths with their forepaws. In the coastal marshes they are often seen moving about leisurely in the daytime, but their period of greatest feeding activity is just prior to sunrise and after sunset. Nutria are well adapted for movement on land, however, are more at home in the water. Newborn nutria feed on vegetation within hours and will nurse for 7-8 weeks. The young nutria at birth are fully furred and the eyes are open. Litter size can vary with age of female, habitat quality and time of year. Females can breed within a day of having a litter. The number of young in a litter ranges from 1-13 with an average of 4.5 young. With a gestation period of only 130 days, in one year, an adult nutria can produce two litters and be pregnant for a third. Sexual maturity may vary with habitat quality. Males reach sexual maturity between 4 and 9 months, whereas, females reach sexual maturity between 3 and 9 months. Nutria breed year round and are extremely prolific. Nutria are farmed and trapped for this fur. The nutria’s yellow or brown outer hair looks shaggy and unappealing, but it covers a lush fur undercoat, also called nutria, that is popular for use in clothing. Presumably, this positioning of the mammary glands allow the young to nurse with their nose above the water’s surface while the mother is floating. ![]() Females have four pairs of mammary glands that are located on the side of the body, rather than on the belly. Nutria weigh an average of 12.0 pounds (5.4 kg). When pursed while underwater, nutria can see and will take evasive action to avoid capture. The nose and mouth are valvular (i.e., can be closed to prevent entry of water), and nutria are capable of swimming long distances underwater. The ears are small and the eyes are set high on the head. ![]() Although appearing awkward, the nutria is capable of fast overland travel for considerable distances. The hind legs are large compared with the forelegs consequently, when moving on land, the nutria’s chest drags on the ground and its back appears hunched. The hindfoot consists of four webbed, strongly clawed toes and one unwebbed toe. The digits are used to groom and to excavate roots, rhizomes, and burrows, and are used in feeding. The forepaws, have five toes four are clawed and the fifth is reduced in size. The forelegs are small compared with its body size. Nutria are smaller than a beaver but larger than a muskrat unlike beavers or muskrats, however, it has a round, slightly haired tail. In the rest of the world, nutria is the name of the fur of the animal. In most of the world the animal is called coypu, but in North America the animal is called nutria. The specific name coypus is the Latinized form of coypu, a name in the language of the Araucanian Indians of south-central Chile and adjacent parts of Argentina for an aquatic mammal that was possibly this species. The generic name is derived from two Greek words (mys, for mouse, and kastor, for beaver) that translate as mouse beaver. The whole process can cause several weeks of unmitigated agony.The nutria, Myocastor coypus, is a large semi-aquatic rodent. Since humans are not the normal host, the larvae burrow about until they die. The larvae instinctively burrow into the person's skin. This may happen wading around, sitting in a blind, or crawling around under a camp repairing the foundation. Woe is to the hapless human who has skin contact with the nematode larvae. Normally, these larvae burrow into a nutria's skin, become adults, and the cycle begins again. Nematode eggs leave the nutria in its feces, and they hatch into tiny larvae that swim about in the water. It is caused by a small nematode of the genus Strongyloides (pronounced "strong eh loy' dees") that is parasitic in nutria intestines. Humans who work or recreate in the marsh may get an occasional case of nutria itch, a condition resulting in severe itching and swelling. "In America's WETLAND, there is nematode that may be quite bothersome. ![]()
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