[ARCHIVED THREAD] - SWAT To Shoot On Sight (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 6/6/2008 6:17:29 AM EDT
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Nutria under the gun on the 17th Street Canal Posted by Andrew Vanacore June 05, 2008 11:02PM A Jefferson Parish SWAT team has been called in to defend the 17th Street Canal. The threat? Nutria, the orange-toothed rodents that eat through marshlands and levees, among other offenses. Officials say their numbers around the canal have jumped in the last year and a half, damaging levees. "They've not only damaged the intake pipes but burrowed into holes along the canal," said Chief Bob Garner of the East Jefferson Levee District Police. Inspections around the 17th Street Canal began turning up signs of nutria about a year and a half ago, said Danny Abadie, superintendent of operations for the East Jefferson Levee District Maintenance Department. "We've seen a bunch of these critters out there," Abadie said. "They're eating at the base of the grasses," which can lead to soil erosion. Over time, that erosion can add up. When Jefferson Parish officials first recognized the nutria epidemic in 1994, they estimated it had already caused $6 million to $8 million in damage. Jefferson Parish SWAT teams have targeted the rodents along drainage canals for more than a decade. Their ever-burgeoning numbers and destructive eating habits have left the nutria with few friends - even among animal rights groups. Garner said he asked the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office to deploy the SWAT team as a favor. SWAT members will stalk the rats with rifles in the wee hours, They plan to start as early as today. Garner said the operation could last weeks. Still an open question is whether SWAT members will have jurisdiction to go after nutria on the Orleans Parish side of the canal. Garner said East Jefferson officials have focused on the Jefferson side. But he couldn't say whether sharpshooters would hold their fire if they spot pests across the water. "For the time being, we're only concerned with those that are on our side," Garner said. "If that problem arises, we'll deal with it." blog.nola.com/updates/2008/06/nutria_under_the_gun_on_17th_s.html |
Funny, we used to have a big French speaking demographic in Monroe MI that would eat Muskrat too. It must be a French/Cajun thing. The idea at the time was they could eat it on Catholic Fish Fridays because it was a waterborne animal. French Canadian muskrat eaters |
That's exactly what our local PD has. Suppressed 10/22s for Nutria control. Though we don't have as many hobos now as we used to... |
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I have shot and trapped these when I lived in OR. For my buddy's 50th B-Day I BBQed nutria and raccoon. I marinated both and threw on the grill, people were eating it as fast as I could cook it, even after I told them what they were eating! Shot one once while duck hunting and sent my lab after it, he was less then amused when he got to it but he brought it back 
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Haliburton Nutria training school On a serious note, years back they had a $5 bounty on Nutria tails... I checked into it because that would be a worthwhile evening if you could get on them. But you had to apply and get a $100 license to get the bounty, kind of nixed out the payoff. |
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I have fond memories of slaughtering those dammed things at duck and deer camps. I grew up in South LA. They truly are a nusicance (sp). IIRC, Wildlife and Fisheries used to offer money per tail to keep the population down. They are open season as well, no limit, no quarter. FACT: They are an evasive species, hence the reason they are such a problem. |
You'd get evasive too when the shootin starts. 
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SAw that one too. Looked like fun. |
fuggin' awesome! Attel FTW. That guys is seriously funny. |
"Sounds like a good job for a suppressed 10/22" was exactly what I thought when I read the article. |
