The large rodent swimming in these ditches with orange front teeth is a nutria, a South American animal that arrived on the Gulf Coast for fur farming in the 1930s and got out — a hurricane and a good many deliberate releases finished the job. They are semiaquatic, breed several times a year, and eat the roots of marsh plants rather than the tops, which kills the plant outright and turns marsh into open water. On a coast already losing wetland to subsidence and sea level, that is a serious multiplier.
Getting there
29.6000, -94.9000
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
