Litters average four to five young; however, nutria can have up to thirteen young per litter and may have three litters per year. Young are born fully furred and active, weighing 8 oz.
They can swim and eat vegetation shortly thereafter, still nursing for up to eight weeks. As an example of their proliferation: In , twenty nutria were introduced into Louisiana and within twenty years, the nutria population exceeded 20 million animals.
By , the nutria had replaced the native muskrat as the leading furbearer in Louisiana. With few natural predators to help control population growth, nutria populations in Maryland have grown rapidly. Population estimates on Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge increased from about animals in to as many as 50, animals by the mids.
At Tudor Farms, a 6,acre private wildlife management area adjacent to the refuge, populations between and were estimated at 17, to 24, animals. Random seasonal commercial trapping was unable to decrease the nutria population in these areas, necessitating implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project in with the goal to eradicate nutria.
Nutria are frequently mistaken for beaver, muskrat, groundhog, and otter. However, several characteristics can aid in the correct identification.
Nutria Nutria. USFWS photo. Muskrat Muskrat. Beaver Beaver. No webbing between toes. Fine stiff hairs along margin of toes to aid in swimming. Heavy, scaly, ratlike tail sparsely covered in bristly hairs. Thin ribbon-like scaly tail thinly covered with fine black hairs. Generally found in open fields, woodchucks are primarily vegetarians and are always on the lookout for common plants. Woodchucks gnaw constantly to wear down their perpetually growing incisor teeth.
They love to burrow, digging under porches, sheds, walkways, and woodpiles. Their tunneling can damage foundations, retaining walls, patios, and other structural elements, leading to expensive repairs. Live trapping is the best way to handle animal removal and protect your property from woodchucks. With stout inch bodies, their long, scaly, and furless tails can double their total length.
For groundhogs, preparing for hibernation season means stocking up on food sources. During the summer and fall months, groundhogs can spend a lot of their time eating their way through your garden and their burrowing behaviors can cause widespread issues with ground stability i. As herbivores, they enjoy vegetables, grasses, fruit and tree barks. This includes beans, peas, carrots and grass, among other items.
All this feeding allows groundhogs to store fat reserves for winter hibernation. From October through breeding season in March , groundhogs hibernate in burrows underground. During this time, their heart rates can drop significantly, from 75 to only four beats per minute.
While hibernation months can provide your yard with temporary peace, chaos can strike as soon as spring arrives and hungry animals emerge from their burrow in search of mates and food. Groundhogs have a reputation for being able to predict spring weather before it arrives.
The legend originally called Candlemas Day began in Europe and was brought to America when the Germans arrived in Pennsylvania in the s. The legend states that, if the groundhog sees a shadow i. In most cases, the groundhogs have seen their shadows. While Terminix may not treat for groundhogs or woodchucks, contact us for more info on our offerings. You might not see them. You might not hear them. When they burrow in yards, muskrats and woodchucks create unsightly mounds, weaken plants' roots, and even damage building foundations.
Muskrats may also tunnel into dams and ditches, causing soil erosion and flooding. Additionally, both pests may carry parasites, like ticks, fleas, and mites, and muskrats emit strong, musky odors during breeding season.
Since both pests can lead to costly home and lawn repairs, concerned homeowners should seek help from pest control specialists to remove in festations. Muskrat vs.
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