When I first moved to Portland, a housemate pointed out a nutria at a swampy MAX stopâtheyâre large, rat-tailed, orange-toothed, and kind of hard to missâand informed me they were native to the area. She was wrong. Nutria were imported to Oregon in the 1930s to support the areaâs fur trade, back when nutria fur coats were a thing, and much of the documentary Rodents of Unusual Size attempts to make a case for nutria fur coats becoming a thing again. Largely filmed in Louisiana, R.O.U.S. focuses on the problem of nutria-caused erosion, and most of its interviews are with people who kill nutria for the stateâs $5 bounty on each tail. There are many, many dead nutria in this film, but that doesnât mean it isnât a fun, weird movie to watchâitâs full of grizzled old Louisiana men doing things like holding poop in their hand and saying, âThatâs a nutria turd.â Filmmakers in attendance Thurs Sept 27.
Read more of the Mercury's award-winning* movie and TV coverage here!
*not actually award-winning
