Mouse Beavers From Hell

Hello, I’m a nutria. Maybe you’ve seen me around town. I’m hard to miss, being one of the largest rodents in the world. Not in the top five, though...

I’m not really from here, though. I mean, I live here, but my kind are from the marshes of South America. Fur ranchers brought us to Oregon about 100 years ago. That didn’t work out, so now we kinda just make our homes here.

Like all rodents, we love to CHEW! It’s what we do! Our favorite thing to chew is soft plant roots, the kind that hold together water canals. Which makes humans mad.

It’s not fair, because those suck-ups, the beavers, chew too. But everyone seems to like them because they’re FROM here...

People call us “nutria,” but that’s just the Spanish word for “otter.” We’re NOT otters, and actually our closest relatives are spiny rats.

In South America, the Mapuche people called us “coypu.” Nerdy scientists call us “Myocastor,” which literally means “MOUSE BEAVER!!!!”

In South America, lots of animals just call us “food”! It’s a tough neighborhood down there.

To be totally honest, I’m sorry about messing up the ecosystem and all that, but I like living here.

I know some people don’t like us. They get mad about the ecological damage, and they make fun of our big butts!

Really, I’m just trying to live my life. Just doing my thing. Us nutria aren’t responsible for what happens around here.

All of YOU are.