Woman finds 'unwanted creatures' on her farm. Her loving response. 😪

[sprinkleeninow]

[TommieMommy]

1. Awwww 💙🐾🐾 I would do the same thing. I love all animals

[sprinkleeninow]

12. Ambiguous choice to have compassion for them or to consider them in the invasive species category.

I do understand the concern, but OTOH, the spiritual side of me sees them as part of the mystery of creation.

[wolfie001]

3. I noticed the webbed feet. It's the rat-like tail that gives them the bad reputation

Cute though and what a sweet and kind woman.

[Donkees]

7. It's their destruction of wetland ecosystems that is the problem ...

Nutria are invasive, semi-aquatic, South American rodents first released into Dorchester County, Maryland in 1943. Nutria did not evolve in Maryland’s wetland ecosystems; therefore, there are few predators or natural conditions that control their population. Since their release, nutria have destroyed thousands of acres of wetlands through their destructive feeding habitats. In the Chesapeake Bay, nutria are primarily limited to the Delmarva Peninsula, where they have been found in six Maryland counties and portions of Delaware and Virginia.

A concerted effort to eradicate nutria in Maryland began in 2002 following a two year pilot project to determine if nutria could be eradicated from the Chesapeake Bay and, whether or not the nutria damaged marshlands would recover. The Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project, under the direction of a management team initially composed of representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR), Tudor Farms, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and University of Maryland, began the first phases of the project in April 2002. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, (APHIS) Wildlife Services, assumed primary responsibility for project implementation.

As of 2016, all of the known nutria populations have been removed from over a quarter million acres of the Delmarva Peninsula, and the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project is implementing efforts to verify eradication and remove residual animals.

To learn more about nutria eradication efforts as well as current research on nutria, please visit the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project page.

https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/plants_wildlife/invasives/inv_nutria.aspx

[Timeflyer]

9. They're a heck of a lot cuter than Burmese pythons causing havoc in Everglades, but invasive species are a problem.

[wolfie001]

10. Woah! Thanks for that.

Like cold water to the face.

[The Madcap]

4. From the OP title, I thought T***p had shown up

To declare the farm a new ICE center.

Glad I was wrong.

[LymphocyteLover]

5. Never heard of these creatures before. I would think they are muskrats

they look like giant rats.

Apparently they have orange teeth!

[HeartsCanHope]

6. We feed the birds and, by feeding the birds , a lot of other animals have found food on our property.

We have opposum, squirrels, woodchucks, deer, (have had deer eat directly from the bird feeder,) moles, raccoons,

voles, etc. We're not trying to attract them, just the birds. We would never hurt any of the visitors, but once they start

coming they can take what they find. We live in a suburban setting, so it is fun to see what comes. All life is a gift.

[IronLionZion]

8. Very interesting

I've heard of nutria but didn't know much about them.

[calimary]

11. Fascinating!

I couldn’t imagine what they were, just glancing at the YouTube here, because the red rectangle with the white arrow in its middle was all you saw. Couldn’t tell what the woman was bending over towards.

I hope a solution was found for those critters so they didn’t all just have to be destroyed.

[Borogove]

13. Always thought nutria were very cute. What a cool woman.