At sunset I drove south, to Milwaukie, on the advice of a local naturalist who also issued a warning.
“There have been cases of the nutria getting aggressive and nipping people,” says James Davis from the Metro Regional Council. “While feeding these giant water rats, people have run out of food, and they might just try to get a little nip on a finger or something.”
Arming myself with a thick pair of knee-high socks, stout shoes, and a stout friend, I was sure to bring three slices of bread and two carrots to stave off these reportedly ravenous beasts. Unfortunately, we forgot a flashlight. Parking behind Milwaukie’s Lending Library, we walked through a blanket of darkness to a bank beside a pond. We were completely, utterly blind. It was dead silent. What I didn’t know was that we were already surrounded….
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Nutria were first introduced to Louisiana from Argentina by fur peddlers in the 1930s. The 20-pound semi-aquatic rodents are bigger than a cat when full grown, and are known, like rats, for their prolific breeding. An estimated 20 million animals bred in Louisiana within two decades, and the animals were brought to Oregon by scammers, according to Davis.
“In the 1950s the so-called ‘Nutria Breeding Association’ started advocating this get-rich-quick scam, charging $1,000 a pair to breed them for fur,” he says. “Nutria ranches were established in California and Oregon, but the market never took off and the animals were either killed or they escaped.”
Portland is now infested with the critters. They can be found in huge numbers in the lower Columbia and Willamette Rivers, as well as along the Springwater Trail around SE 110th, and in large numbers, sometimes even by daylight, at the Eastmoreland Golf Course in Southeast Portland. The state of Louisiana has tried to market nutria meat as a way to boost its economy, but with little success, and Portlanders are by and large oblivious to nutria’s protein potential. Davis has tried some, though.
“As you’d expect, it tastes like chicken,” he says. “A lot like the thigh of a chicken because it’s dark meat. But the one I ate—even though it had been fed grain—had this musky, detritus-type taste to it.”
Delicious.
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As we approached the pond, I began clucking through my teeth like a grandmother calling her cats. My friend and I tore off pieces of bread and carrots and dropped them by our feet. In the pitch dark, it was impossible to tell whether any nutria were around. All I could hear was the gentle lapping of the pond on its banks, and the occasional quacking duck.
I took out my camera and shot it, blind, into the ground. Bringing the LCD viewer to my eyes, I gasped. Three giant animals, the size of pit bulls, were gnawing at our bait. I stepped backward, into another. With a piercing guttural scream, the beast fled. I got out my cell phone, opened it, and realized in the neon half-light that we were surrounded by what looked like a dozen enormous rats. We were out of food, and one of them began hissing at me. Its clawed feet scratching the earth, the nutria began advancing as one—not intimidated in the least. I shrieked. I ran. My friend ran, too.
Tires squealing, we sped from the parking lot and didn’t slow down until we reached Portland city limits. I swore to never return. Hipsters may rule the city, but nutria rule Milwaukie.
I am about to give up. I’ve tried to send a comment on this story twice and it just erases when I send it.
In a nutshell, I was saddened to read how stupid the writer was to go feed some wild animals, scare them, then act as if they were mean and make it into a funny story. He then gave away some of their locations. Nutria are sweet and do not attack people. They may hiss trying to protect their young, but they always run away. I knew one once as a pet and he was like a little dog; very playful, intellligent and sweet. He made adorable noises like purring, humming, and talking. Here in Oregon they periodically kill off Nutria by trapping them in very inhumane ways and then killing them. That wasn’t mentioned in the story. People brought these “non-native” animals here for their own use, and when they realized nutria eat foliage they decided to get rid of them. (just like all the other non-native species we’ve brought here). It was human error. I truly hope your story causes no harm to these innocent animals. Please think before you write.
Sincerely,
LR -SW Portland
Nice job. Not only did you make yourself sound like a complete p*ssy, you have now provided the location for people to go and bother the nutria.
Given a choice between the hipsters and the nutria I’m thinking the nutria sound like better company, especially if you are one of the hipsters.
Why do you think it is so amusing to go feed the nutria, adding to the problem of them learning to approach humans for snacks AND give the location where others can do the same? They are non-native, yes, but do you think they bought plane tickets to Oregon with the idea that they would take over native ponds and streams? NO. We humans brought them here and OOPS! let them go. Now they are a PROBLEM and some people around here think the way to deal with them is to kill them in some rather inhumane ways. Did you happen to ask how they trap them? Did they happen to mention that they set traps for them underwater where they are caught and die by drowning?
Pretty funny, huh?
Did you bother to interview anyone who LIKES them? or who has met one in person and can tell you what they are really like?
Are YOU a native? and I don’t mean just born here. Everyone is soooooo ready to talk about how destructive the nutria are but how about you take a drive around the Portland area and see how many trees are cut down, rivers polluted, and wildlife habitats are RUINED just so us humans can have a ridiculously huge Mc Mansion in a sprawling housing development usually ironically named after whatever tree species was chopped down to build the houses.
I hear all the time how non-native species contribute to the decline of the native species. Yeah, it’s ALL the nutrias’ fault that you never see a beaver. Certainly not OUR fault – oh no!!!
But I realize that humans as an invasive species doesn’t make a funny “hip” Mercury story.
I wish you would think before you write a story like this one that makes fun of an animal that through NO fault of it’s own has become the object of intense hatred and cruel extermination practices.
It’s the Ledding Library–not “Lending”. Please fact check before you go to print!
Matt Davis is a complete moron. It shows the integrity and quality of writers for the Portland Mercury as well. The story is total BS. I have lived in Milwaukie for over 14 years and visit the library and nutria frequently. These animals are a joy to watch and have never shown any aggressiveness ever. There have never been any complaints reported , check Milwaukie Police records, and these sweet orange toothed animals have had a nice little life. Now some macho outdoorsman, thanks to this article, will probably show up with some snares or a pellet rifle and rid Milwaukie of these vile, evil, blood thirsty rodents. Nice going Jackass, you are a real DS.