| Taken from the original webpage at
http://www.jeffparish.net/index.cfm?DocID=1211
By Marilyn Barrett
If nutria were human and capable of
song one of them might compose a tune to
the words I'll be here long after you're
gone.... A substantial population of
these large rodents has been living in
Jefferson Parish for at least 30 years
despite serious concerns about the
damage they have done to the parish the
potential threat they pose to life and
property and the efforts of Sheriff
Harrv Lee's SWAT team to eradicate them
during nightly target practice. Does
Jefferson Parish have a problem?
Those responsible for parish drainage
think so. Since most of Jefferson Parish
is below sea level the parish could
quickly revert to wetlands without an
intricate drainage system. Canals
channel the runoff to pumping stations
that literally pour the rain into
adjacent Baratana estuary and Lake
Pontchartrain. About five years ago
those in the department responsible for
canal maintenance began to notice an
increase in cave-ins and erosion along
the canals. Nutria had seriously
weakened the canal banks by overgrazing
and building a labyrinth of tunnels
under the surface. Although most of
these burrows extend 4-6 feet into the
canal banks they are interconnected in a
sort of honeycomb pattern so that some
extend under the surface as much as
50-150 feet. Occasionally severe
tunneling in a small area will cause a
section of canal bank to collapse into
the canal. Some parish roadways and
drainage culverts adjacent to the canals
have been undermined by the burrows.
Patches of grass that hold the canal
banks in place have been grazed down to
the bare ground by these voracious
critters. Since the early 1990s nutria
have caused about $8 million in damages
on about 14 percent of the parish's
canals on both the east and west banks
of the river according to a 1994 report
by the Jefferson Parish Drainage
Department.
'That estimate was made almost two
years ago " said Marnie Winter
director of the Jefferson Parish
Environmental and Development Control
Department. "We have to regularly repack
and replant and sometimes rebuild whole
canal banks."
Nutria used to be valuable; trappers
could earn $7-8 per pelt on the market.
When made into dark soft fur coats the
pelts kept people warm while
accommodating fashion in the US and
Europe. Today; the fur market is
depressed: nobody buys fur coats anymore
and few trappers are left.
This nutria problem is not simple.
Nutria are not afraid of or even
intimidated by humans and activities.
Jefferson Parish includes busy business
and residential areas that might
discourage other wildlife but not
nutria. If they can't find enough to eat
along a canal bank they move to
residential lawns and shrubs. Nutria
live all over coastal Louisiana as well
as other southern states and their range
is expanding. >
Next >
Call us
at (504) 338-7517 or email us at
Parker Wildlife
Control |
