MUSK RAT AND NUTRIA

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18807, 1 December 1932, Page 9

MUSK RAT AND NUTRIA

BRITAIN’S IMPORTED PESTS A COUNTRYSIDE MENACE. (From a Correspondent.) LONDON, Oct. 27. The trustees of the British Museum it 'their meeting |on (Saturday considered the serious position In the country in relation to the musk-rat menace, and particularly to the fact that, now that the keeping of muskrats is prohibited except under strictest regulations against their escape, the musk-rat farmers have turned their attention to the coypn, or nutria, an aquatic South African rodent. The latter animal is as large as a beaver, but has a tapering tail; it lives in burrows, and its fur is brown, soft, and dense. The trustees decided to recommend to the authorities concerned that the nutria should, like the musk-rat, be scheduled as an animal the import of which is prohibited and which shall be kept only under license. It is only within the past few years that the mask-rat has been introduced into this country. Its first appearance in Europe was in 1905, when three females and two males were placed on an estate near Prague. In 1927 it was estimated that there were about 100,000,000 musk-rats in Europe, all descendants of the original five. Within .the past five years masquash farms have been settled in several .parts of Scotland and in various English counties, notably Shropshire. ywiCiiout rigorous control musk-rats are capable of causing great damage, such as undermining river and canal banks and obstructing drainage by building dams.

Repressive Measures.

The order prohibiting the importation into or the keeping of muskrats in, Great Britain, except under license, came into operation on May 1, 1932. It s also an offence for any person to turn a musk-rat loose or wlfiully allow' a musk-rat to escape. Measures for ‘ the repression of musk-rats have been introduced in Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Finland and Soviet Russia, on the other hand, encourage their breeding for the sake of musquash fur. In appearance the muskrat is not unlike a much larger version of the British water-rat. It has a head and body length of about 12 inches, and a distinctive oar-like tail, long and scaly. Since its habits- are mainly nocturnal and its burrows so constructed that their entrances are below'the'level of -the water by whioh it lives, its presence is often hard to detect before serious damage is done. The nutria is a reddish-brown rodent. Its large size, aquatic habits, partially webbed hind toes, and smooth broad, orange-coloured incisors arc sufficient to distinguish It. Although it subsists largely on aquatic plants, it frequently leaves the water to feed, especially in the-, evening. It is known that the nutria lias been imported into this country and that some rodents have escaped from control.