California: Invasion of Swamp Rodents

Giant Swamp Rats - 'Nutria' - Are in
​Four California Counties:
​Fresno, Merced, Tuolumne & Stanislaus

Should we eat 'em?
***
3/5/2018, San Francisco Chronicle -- In February 2018 officials of California wildlife began to sound the alarm about the rodent, NUTRIA, invasive South American rodents that look like enormous, 20-pound rats and have the power to devastate wetlands.

California Dept of Fish & Wildlife spokesman, Peter Tira has reported that after being eradicated in the 1970s, the NUTRIA are making a strong comeback. So far they've been spotted in four California counties: Stanislaus, Fresno, Tuolumne and Merced. Mr Tira said, "We didn't know at first if it was a small, isolated population; but it soon became clear that it's a breeding population, and they're reaching major waterways where they can move." 

The idea of eating the giant swamp rats is one that's come up in other states where they've become a problem. In Louisiana, where nutria were imported to be bred for their fur until some of them broke free and quickly reproduced beyond controllable numbers, officials have been trying to drum up excitement about eating nutria for decades now. A 1997 New York Times headline declared, "Louisiana is trying to turn a pest into a meal."