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Nutria Rats

Nutria Rats

What are your thoughts about the Nutria Rat? In 1936 they were imported into the US to make fur coats, yes rat coats. In the 1980s demand for fur coats dropped and a lot of Nutria Rat populations grew. Nutria Rats are quite large and are very aggressive. They cause so much havoc that SWAT teams actually come out at night to shoot and kill them in order to keep the population down. Some people eat them.

Rats Nutria

I have never heard of these rats. I will have to research them. I have never ran into a aggressive rat or even a rather large rat yet.

Nutria Rats UFO & Writing Art Education Sciences

Name: Xyxvv

Comments: Yeah, they're a menace in Louisiana, they where released there for fur hunting back in the 30's, they used them to make coats, like food, if nobody told you what it was you'd usually like it.

But since they aren't hunted for their pelts anymore their population has boomed and they are now found all around the country, But in New Orleans their population is so high that the police hunt them nightly along the levees to keep their aim in. They use silenced .22 rifles, so as not to disturb the public.

The ones they shoot are sent to the local zoos as feed for the various carnivorous critters they have. More at Source 4

They've tried to promote them as a food source, but it has yet to catch on.

National Geographic did a thing on giant rats before. These aren't the kind of thing you'd want as a pet, since they're huge and aren't really afraid of anything. I.E. your cat isn't going to even go near these things, hell your Pitbull probably wont either.

Personally since its an non native invasive species they should hunt them here, I'm normally a left wing socialist, but hell, if fur of this this is useful, make me a coat and I'll take a rack of rat ribs too, so long as it's not city rat...

Source 1: Wiki
Source 2: NatGeo

Rats Nutria

That is interesting news to now. I have eaten rat meat in the orient and found no problem with eating it. It was a little like eating rabbit. I have found out that Rats, Rabbits and squirrel are in the same family so they taste alike. I think hunting a large rat may be interesting to do.