My new lawn..err..marsh mower!

I was out wandering around the hillside late this afternoon thinking of how I really should be cutting the almost knee-high grass! Nope..not happening!  At least not this evening, I can cut grass tomorrow..or the next day..or next week! I was taking a hike not pushing a lawn mower!  In my mind, a hike is not worth its salt if it does not include at least a few steps on the pier so I headed in that direction.  I love being on the pier as that is where I find most of my critter friends.  Perhaps they share an equal love for the water or perhaps I just interrupt their mealtimes!  I did do just that this evening.  No sooner had I stepped on the pier than I heard a strange crunching noise!  What was that??? I froze in my footsteps as I listened trying to decipher where the noise was.  It was then that I saw my friend the nutria.  The large rat-like creature was munching away on the marsh grass roots just a few feet from me!  Aha!  So that is what has been trimming the marsh grass in neat, hedge-like precision!  I had noticed a few days ago that the reeds were being trimmed back in perfect unison just like a hedge-trimmer would do.  The tops of the grass were laid over in nice bundles to be washed away with the tide.  The nutria rat was trimming the marsh just like I should be doing the lawn!

There is only one major problem with the nutria chewing away on the roots of the marsh grass.   The rodent actually "attacks" the root mat of the marsh.  This life-giving mat secures the marsh clumps to the mud and once that mat is violated, the clump cannot survive.  The normal flow of the tide and waves created by boaters cause mass erosion once the root mat has been damaged.  This erosion has a devastating effect on the surrounding wildlife.  Healthy marshes act like filters for the tide waters.  Sediment (and nutrients) are cleaned from the waters with each turn of the tide.  These same marshes provide nesting areas for water fowl, aquatic mammals, reptiles and crustaceans.  They all depend on a healthy marsh. Nutria rats nest in the marshes but reproduce at such a massive rate that if left unchecked they would soon over-populate an area.  Their eating habits ruin the very vegetation that provides them shelter.  Once the marsh root mats are ruined, the entire area falls in peril of being desolate.  The nutrias move on to other healthy marshes and leave behind  open areas void of any  grasses.  The wildlife in the area starts to diminish merely because their habitat has been destroyed.

Nutria rats are not native to the area.  They were imported from South America between 1900 and 1930 as a possible fur trade business. A fall in the price of fur and difficulty breeding the animals in captivity led to the abandonment of the whole idea in the early 1940s.  The animals were all released into the wild and soon multiplied tremendously.  Now, these critters are causing mass problems for the coastlines and even inland areas.  One of the only predators of the nutria is the alligator.  Large gators will clear and area of nutria if left to their own accord but most folks panic if they spy an alligator in the area.  They want it removed or killed.  This type of thinking has been a boon for the nutria.  They can go about doing their damage to the marshes since folks would rather have a furry critter in their back yards than a helpful alligator swimming in the Bayou!

Personally, I like alligators!  I do not have a problem with the nutria rats overrunning the Bayou since I do allow my gators to reign supreme! This natural process has pretty much kept things in check.  Nature doing its job. My little friend, Nutria, watch your step!  Big Mama Gator would love to dine upon you!  Oh..and if you would...please come trim a bit of the grass up the hill a bit. It sure needs cutting!