Faced with a mounting invasive species problem, officials in California decided to call in the big dogs … literally.
KCRA reported in March on the Department of Fish and Wildlife's all-out effort to rid the Sherman Island area of nutria. The pesky rodent visitors surfaced on the roughly 16,000-acre island near the state's capital a year and a half ago. Their presence has not been taken lightly.
"They are one of the most destructive and invasive species in the world," Valerie Cook told the local outlet. Cook, who serves as an environmental program manager with the department, said the island is one of the area's "northernmost and newer sites" where the unwelcome invaders have made a home.
Native to South America, nutria have caused headaches throughout the United States since they were brought to the country for their fur in 1889, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Let loose by ranchers after the fur market declined in the 1940s, the animals began eating anything and everything in their path. Their behavior mirrors that of many invasive species, which typically outcompete native animals and plants for resources, upsetting local ecosystems.
Critical wetlands have been among the habitats damaged by nutria. As the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA has explained, "Unlike native rodents, nutria consume not just the succulent leafy portions of marsh plants, but also the roots, rhizomes, and tubers, leading to complete destruction of the plant. In most cases, nutria damage … is so severe that the marsh is converted to open water."
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The animals that now threaten ecosystems on Sherman Island — where wetland restoration projects have already been underway — have long plagued states in the Southeast.
"These nutria cost places like Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars every year in infrastructure losses," U.S. Congressman Josh Harder told KCRA. "That's going to happen to California if we don't get this eradicated."
In the Southeast, conservation detection dogs have been used to sniff out nutria scat. While some dogs are taking on new challenges, like tracking whale scat on boats or discovering rare flowers, duty calls now that nutria are overrunning another region.
Dogs trained in finding nutria scat are being brought to the affected area from the East Coast with an $11 million grant from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, per KCRA. This should help inform decisions about where to place traps to catch the rodents.
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"It's critical for us that we are able to employ all the tools in the toolbox that help us work most efficiently and can help us get detections most effectively," Cook noted.
Detection dogs can be humanely trained to support conservation efforts. Given their remarkable sense of smell, dogs can be unique and valuable allies in tracking everything from rare plants to invasive species, poaching, and pollution, making up for where humans fall short.
"If you can't beat them, eat them" is another suggestion from some officials when it comes to invasive species. Nutria are low in fat and high in protein, which is a big part of the campaign from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to put them on restaurant menus.
In California, crews have caught 53 nutria on Sherman Island as of early March. About 5,500 have been caught in the state since 2017, according to KCRA. Still, experts are wary of what the future may hold.
"The concern is where animals have moved to from here," Cook concluded. Wherever they crop up next, it seems likely that man's best friend will be there to help in the fight against damage caused by nutria.
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