Slowly but surely!

  Normally, nutria rats are an annoyance.  They do devastating damage to the marsh by eating the roots of the plants.  This kills off acres of the marshlands and leaves the shoreline open to erosion.  The rodents are such a scourge that there is even a bounty on their heads.  Folks are encouraged to rid the wetlands of any and all.  I have no problem with that.  With their rapid reproduction rate and the fact that they have very few natural enemies, the nutria rats will soon take over a place.  They will eat their way through any vegetation available and then move on to the next marshy area.  The fact that they can be such a nuisance brings their own pack of troubles.  It is not in my nature to kill critters just for the sake of killing and rarely kill one for any other reason so I doubt I will ever rid the Bayou of these critters.  After this evening, I am seriously doubting my disdain for the critters at all.

  The old Bayou Dog and I headed to the pier just before dark.  I had been working all day and really needed a break.  The cooling Bay breeze was just the thing to make me relax a bit.  Ms. Ez and I sat enjoying the sunset while listening to the bats fly above our heads.  For about a half hour this pleasantness engulfed our very thoughts but then hunger pangs started causing both our bellies grumble.  "Well, Ez, are you ready to head back?" I asked the old dog.  She answered with a wag of her tail and a slight yip.  "Alrighty then!  Lets go."  About halfway up the pier, I stopped in my tracks.  The three baby nutria rats were playing on the mudflats again.  Aww, they were so stinking cute!  I motioned for Ms. Ez to sit and I did the same. We were going to watch this bit of cuteness while it lasted!

  After a bit, I softly spoke to the rodents.  One immediately scampered into the marsh and peered at me with its beady eyes.  The other two froze.  Ok, this was promising.  I spoke again.  The smallest of the three eased out a bit closer to me.  It sat and stared as if trying to figure out if I was friend or foe.  Number two decided to join the first baby in the marsh edge but number three stayed behind and listened intently to my murmurs.  "Aww, you are a cute little rascal."  With that, Ms. Ez began to thump her tail on the pier boards.  She so wanted to dive out on the mudflats and play with her new found friend! She whined a bit which caused the little nutria to jump!  Bitty Baby raced to join its larger siblings.  All three sat and stared through the reeds at us.  I thought for sure the fun and games time was over for the night but Bitty Baby sneaked out for one last romp before scurrying back behind the others.  Off down the trail in the marsh they went!  Such fun!  Slowly but surely, I am making friends with the little critters.  Maybe I can train them to eat weeds instead of marsh!  

Cherubs and Nutria Rats

  There are certain items that I would never dream of acquiring and placing in the gardens here on the Bayou. They just don't fit in with the whole scheme of things.  Usually, I deem these things to be either too fancy or too frivolous to be part of the place.  Then there are things that acquire the yard instead of the other way around.  These items suddenly appear and never leave.  One of those such items sits in among the roses. It has been there ever since it showed up at the doorstep years ago. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, I came in possession of a small statue of cherubs.  Just the thing that does not belong in a rustic setting of fish nets, crab pots and anchors.  Cherubs with their delicate wings and sweet smiles have a hard time coexisting with nutria rats, alligators and otters.  It just doesn't happen.  Well, yeah, these cherubs do.  They have a great deal to do with at least nutria rats.

  Katrina's flood waters dumped a huge amount of debris in our yard.  I found the cherub statue under a mountain of boards, marsh grass and boat parts.  Not knowing what it was, I pulled it from beneath the pile. Ahh, cherubs.  Hmmm, just what I needed.  I stuck the thing aside thinking that someone might adore it and take it home.  It didn't happen.  The cherubs stayed and soon became a part of the garden.  Now, I have sort of become attached to the cutesy little thing.  Not that I would ever want another and would definitely never purchase such a thing but still this thing is part of the place now.  It sits under a rose bush and looks right at home.  

  When I pulled the statue from the debris pile, I saw a slight movement in the hole left behind in the debris pile.  At first, I was startled thinking it might have been a large cottonmouth moccasin but then my heart melted a bit.  Under all of that trash was a tiny, infant nutria rat.  It looked at me with sad eyes.  The poor little thing had been buried alive and was starving.  Now any other day, I might have thought, "Good riddance" as these things wreak havoc on the marshes but seeing any life after such devastation was amazing.  I reached down and picked up the little rascal. As much as it could, the little thing seemed appreciative.  Now what? What was I to do with a baby nutria rat especially when I did not even have time to care for myself.  I took it back to the Bayou and released it.  It would have to fend for itself the best it could.  It was not long afterwards that I heard it cry.  The cries were weak but persistent. All night, I could hear the sad cries of the little one and that tugged at the heartstrings a bit. By morning, I was having a major guilt trip about setting the little tyke out on its own and went down to see if I could find it.  I did and to my surprise, it had reunited with its mother.  At least part of the family was back together again.  

  Now when I see the cherubs in the garden, I think about that little nutria and how it survived against all odds.  The statue is sort of a symbol of endurance.  It will stay in the garden for as long as I have a say about it. Like I said, I am not a fan of this sort of thing but, hey, it has a story. Anything that has a good story behind it makes for good yard art!  Right?

  

Twins!

Nutria Rats are probably one of the most despised animals that crawl around in the marshes here on the Coast.  Not many folks like them or even tolerate them.  These critters even have a bounty on them!  The going rate is around $5 per tail.  Yep, you heard that right..per tail.  No one wants the entire Nutria Rat, they just want to have proof that you killed the critter.  This seems sort of sad even if they are a problem.  You see, Nutria Rats cause a lot of damage to the marshes.  They have an extreme taste for the roots which undermines the entire "fabric" that holds the marsh together.  Once the root system is severely damaged, the marsh quickly erodes.  Soon the entire area is nothing but mudflats and eroded ground.  The Nutria was brought in to be used by furriers and then allowed to run free.  As adults they do not have a lot of predators. Alligators seem to be the only thing that has a taste for them and with most folks so ready to rid the marshes of gators, the Nutria Rats multiply at a rampant rate.  Hmmm..seems most likely that no one is happy.  The critters are occasionally used as food but I heard one person say that "they taste just like rat!"  Now how in the world did he discover that fact? Ummm..no, I do not want to know.  Still, I have no desire to eat a Nutria Rat!

For the past few days, I have heard a wee animal calling in the marsh.  At times, it sounded like the poor baby was not able to hold its head above the water as I could hear a lot of gurgling with the cries.  Today as I slipped down to the pier to catch the sunrise, I happened upon a small family out for breakfast.  Mama Nutria Rat had her twins learning the fine art of gnawing marsh roots.  As I stepped up on the pier, Mama squeaked a warning to the twins and slid into the water.  She made an effort to splash as much as possible while hoping to distract my attention.  The twins sat perfectly still just a few feet from me. I was able to get a few pictures even through the early morning darkness before Ms. Ez came barreling down onto the pier.  Once the old dog made her appearance, Mama Nutria went berserk!  She started wallowing around in the shallow water as if she was hurt.  The little ones moved across the mud to a spot near the marsh.  There was a sort of tunnel through the marsh that led to their nest.  I knew Mama Nutria Rat had nested at the base of a large Palmetto just a few yards from the pier. Once the little ones felt secure, they made a dash for their nest!  Mama Nutria turned and dove under the water.  She went near the outer edge of the marshline and swam a good hundred or so feet before turning into the marsh.  She had taken a long route back home to check on those little ones!

What a tale the little ones had to tell Mama when she returned!  They had faced the monster and won!  I wish to assure Mama Nutria and her little ones that I meant them no harm.  I won't collect any bounty on their tales.  Someone else will have to snare these animals, for here, they are safe. The twins were so adorable with their little webbed feet and beady eyes.  Some day, I may regret letting them have free reign of the marsh but for now, they have my blessings!