02/25/2025
Everyone do your part!
EAT ME! Please? I'm invasive and delicious.
It's National Invasive Species Awareness Week and this year, please consider the following slogan "Save a Swamp, Sauté a Nutria." These invasive pests were brought here for their fur and began to escape captivity back in the 1940s. Their nonstop munching and burrowing destroy the plants that keep marshes stable, leading to erosion, loss of habitat, and wetlands that look like something out of a disaster movie.
Their meat has been compared to rabbit or even the dark meat of a turkey. If your state has nutria, check your local regulations to see the rules for how to hunt, capture and then ultimately, cook these nuisance critters. Check out the comments below to see a whole list of other delicious invasive species you can feast on.
Photo of a nutria at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge by Kathleen Moore (sharetheexperience)