The Nutria (Myocastor coypus, also known as the coypu, is a large rodent that lives in semiacquatic environments. Nutria came to North America by way of the fur trade, but they have become an invasive species in Florida and other parts of the United States. Their feeding and burrowing behaviors are destructive. Their diet consists of stems of river plants, and they live in burrows adjacent to water sources. Looking like a jumbo-sized rat, the nutria grows to be 10-20 pounds in weight with a long, hairless tail. Their fur is dark brown with softer grey fur underneath. They are easily identified by their deep orange colored incisor teeth. 

Behavior

Nutria consume a quarter of their body weight daily, and they feed all year round. They eat the stems of plants coming out of the ground, as well as root stalks, which often involves digging deeply into the soil, destroying plant life and contributing to soil erosion. Because of their high level of consumption, nutria create whole sections where all of the above-ground and below-ground plant matter has been removed. These areas are referred to as eat-outs and are often highly disruptive to the local ecosystem in which many creatures make multiple uses out of the same area in relative coexistence. Prime locations for nutria include freshwater marshes, but they have been known to inhabit estuaries and on rare occasion salt marshes. 

Most nutria in the wild live up to three years, with individuals becoming ready to breed after 4-8 months. Gestation takes up uto 130 days, and can yield up to a dozen offspring. Once a female gives birth, she can breed again in a matter of days, resulting in up to 3 pregnancies within a year. Once families begin reproducing, the damage to the local landscape increases rapidly. 

Damage & Environmental Impact

The wetland environments which nutria inhabit are unusually valuable to our ecosystem, and distinctly vulnerable to invasive species. Wetlands cover only 5% of the United States, but they are responsible for supporting 31% of the plant life in the country. These unique environments offer shelter and nesting sites to a wide variety of creatures. Additionally, wetlands are beneficial to humans as sources of clean water, protection from major storm surges and flooding, and harvesting of natural resources.

The hugely consumptive feeding habits of the nutria have been steadily changing our coastal landscapes, causing wetlands to be destroyed and become open water. Nutria are literally eating away at our coastal wetlands constantly and year-round. The effect is particularly bad during the winter, when food is more scarce and nutria have to dig deeper and in more places to find edible root stalks. In addition to their greedy eating habits, nutria dig tunnels through land adjacent to water areas, some extending up to 150 feet in length. This severely undermines the landscape and further contributes to erosion of the soil and loss of land to open water. Along with wild hogs, nutria are some of the most destructive invasive mammals in Florida. 

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