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Killed hundreds of nutria with a 22 pistol when I growing up in the north end of the Atchafalaya basin. Same thing for armadillo's. Now I live in AZ and have to shoot coyotes because of the impact they have on deer and antelope. I have a load for the 300 RUM that literally disintegrates them. 130 grain OTBP (Open Tip Barrier Penetrating) at 3875 fps. They just cease to exist except as mist and pieces.
 
Back in 1958-9 some crooked folks bilked a lot of people via TV into purchasing nutria. The idea was to raise them for their fur. A lot of folks went into the business in a big way, and then found out there was no nutria fur market. Unfortunately, many of the 'fur farmers' didn't want to kill their little critters, and not wanting to eat the rodents, they let them go out in the country. There by creating the problems mentioned by other people in this article.
 
It's one of those things that was brought to this country to meet the fur demand. like one of our Washington posters mentioned their here in the NW, Oregon in my case around water ways. As people migrated across country where work was they brought their fur bearing and food source with them.
Like other invasive species in the Southeast if you don't bother them they'll thrive. and We've found out introducing a specie to keep another one in check can back fire.
 
Nutria are rodents that looked like they were crossed w/ muskrat and beaver....we have a irrigation ditch that runs through our hunting lease that are over run w/ the tree gnawing 'lil devils....We constantly are trying to get the upper hand on them w/ little headway....I've used everything between 22 lr through 22 Hornet....a l/r round is deadly out to 30/40 yrds, but to turn them into a pink mist you can't beat the little hornet.....if they were legal here in Arkansas I'd deer hunt w/ it...very low recoil, manageable noise and good out to 75/ 100 yrds...Hell, I'm blind past that distance anyway....I wish Ruger would bring back the # 3 single shot....nice 'lil shooter, low weight and being a S/S it will force you into a better marksman....Keep yer powder dry 'ol Dawgs...trouble is on the way.....
 
Live at a lake in East Texas. Been here over 30 years. They have been a bit of a problem all along. We have trees near the water line. They eat the bark not unlike a beaver. Part of their diet.

Watch dogs near the shore. Nutria will lure dogs into the water and drown them. And yep, a .22 is enough. .22 mag is not too much.


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The bayou has the best tasting food in the world, hands down. Just don't even think about asking what's in it....and you'll enjoy it.
 
Never shot one with bow or 44 cap&ball as a teen when cove fishing for crappie or flippin for bass after work and before evening summer weight training, energy just seemed endless then.

Always wondered how big water rats they were able to get along with all the huge and foul smelling water snakes and cottonmouth.

Never came across killer bees but the south american fire ants were insane. After putting down sod near some of lakes, have to repair irrigation at times or at various farms - ants were brutal!!!! ~ real potential killers.
But, the gators love them! I think part of Louisiana’s significant gator population is due to nutria... not sure how well they like snowbirds(?)
 
From what I gather from Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, we will likely not, by hunting and trapping methods, get ahead of their reproductive rate. Aside from threat to pets and maybe even humans, I rarely see a rabbit or even a groundhog like I used to. Mitch, I bet that rat terrier could give a little back though.Sorry bout your other dog.
Thank you. Randy my Boykin Spaniel had a good long healthy life of 15 yrs. When he got sick the diagnosis was prostate cancer that had spread to his intestine. I had him put down as soon as was necessary.

Rascal my Rat Terrier is all muscle. So you are right he could give some back and could definitely out run and maneuver it. But what I saw yesterday was huge for a Coyote. It was at least 2 ft at the shoulder and a well fed close to 50 lbs (maybe a coy dog).

Yesterday afternoon I was working in the shop when I heard Rascal yelping. As you can imagine my heart sank. I ran out to see him running down our driveway (200 ft to road). He had been stung on the rear by something. He is less than a year old so everything is new to him and he tries to catch every thing that moves.

I have an upstairs deck looking over my back property. I am going to cut some shooting paths, get an electronic call and and see what I can do with my scoped .308.
 
Never heard of these things but it almost sounds like you would be hunting guinea pigs. Tread carefully young wayfaring stranger, or you might run into a savage pack of them and maybe get treed.
As for hunting snowbirds, I'm afraid it's frowned on down here in Florida. Bad for business at the parks, beaches, and other fun places.
 
I hear ya, gwpercle! I took to my grandmother many a **** for the pot. She was depression era and knew what to do with it. Wouldn't turn down a possum or a groundhog either. I ate them as they did. No complaints. Everything goes good with green beans and new potatoes. And my mom said the same thing. I'll hit you up for a recipe sometime when I come across something "different".
My wife and I have been together 38 yrs but she is my second wife and not the mother of my 3 children. I shared that just so this story makes sense. She's a city girl and I was raised so far back in the woods that the sun didn't come up till 8:00. When I took her home to meet my family, my son and brother had been hunting and bagged some squirrels and a ****. When we got ready to set down to dinner my mother told my wife " Being a city girl I figured you wouldn't like fried squirrel an gravy so I made you some **** burger."
 
I, too, married a dazzling urbanite; but, mine is from London, UK. Growing up in the swamps, I learned to eat just about anything that walked, flew, swam, slithered or crawled. The first time my mother came to visit, she cooked up a big pot of chitterlings (notice the proper spelling ... I'm an educated *******). When my wife came in from a shopping trip, she just had to see what was in the pot. (If you've ever cooked chitlins, you know what the smell is like.) My wife almost lost it right there on the kitchen floor.

Funny thing is, she likes them fried- as long as she doesn't have to smell them when they're cooking.
 
Killed a bunch of nutria as a kid with a Mossberg .22 rifle and my S&W .22 Jet shooting .22 LR in it. A trainload of snakes of all descriptions hunting on the creeks and rivers. We never ate any nutria rats though, I never got that hungry :)
 
Never heard of these things but it almost sounds like you would be hunting guinea pigs. Tread carefully young wayfaring stranger, or you might run into a savage pack of them and maybe get treed.
I've never come across a pack of nutria but I have faced down a wild hog. I was photographing little pigs in Cudo NWR. The were to busy rooting to worry about me so I had gotten a little to close. I heard a snort and looked to my side to see mama sow had come out of the brush on the opposite side of the road of the pigs. She was about 15 ft from me and not happy that I was between her and her pigs. I started photoing her and the noise of the 6 frames per sec was enough to get her moving.
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Only took her three strides to cross that gravel road. Here are the pigs.
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