The Pearland area is no stranger to invasive animals, from muscovy ducks to black leatherleaf slugs, the place is seemingly crawling with them. But during a weekend drive near the Southbelt Hike & Bike Trail, I encountered a non-native creature I hadn’t spotted in the area before. It looked like a cross between a beaver and a capybara, with soft-looking, dark-colored fur; webbed feet; and a long, sparsely-haired tail. A “capybeaver,” my sister lovingly called it after I later told her about the encounter. “Cute,” I thought, that is, until it flashed its large, hideously orange buck teeth at me. Then it dawned on me that I’d previously heard the name of this mysterious animal with menacing-looking incisors, and there was no longer anything cute about it: Nutria.
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I followed the rodent until it made a dash for the water and quickly swam below the culvert to the connected pond on the other side of the road. There, I found it feasting on a pile of lettuce and limes, likely left on the sidewalk for the resident muscovy ducks, which didn’t look too pleased to be sharing their meal. When I approached to grab a photo, a rustling of leaves caught my attention. I turned around and found six more nutria of varying sizes hiding in a bush. Not only was this the first time I’d seen the huge rodents in the area after living nearby for almost a decade, but the creatures appeared totally settled in. “The beavers are so cute,” a pair of teenagers walking past told me.
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Hailing from South America where they are known as coypu, the semi-aquatic rodents—which measure up to 2 feet and can weigh up to 20 pounds—are far from home. Nutria were brought to the U.S. in the late 1800s for the fur trade and have since dispersed across much of the southern and eastern parts of the country. They’ve been found in a least 20 states, most recently in California. The beaver imposters were first detected in Texas in the early 1940s, their spread later aided by a hurricane. Experts say the populations of the swamp rats are increasing, and are especially common in the eastern and southern parts of the state. What’s more, they can multiply at astonishing speeds, producing multiple litters per year.
In the Houston area, nutria have most recently been sighted in places like Memorial Park and Woodland Park, according to iNaturalist. Last year, the giant river rats wreaked havoc in neighborhood communities in Katy. Along the Gulf Coast, nutria sightings have also frequently been reported in Quintana, Galveston, and Jamaica Beach. While “cute” to some, their increased presence in the region is alarming.
