Thanks, guys.
I've been so jealous of all the groundhog kills! I don't think the nutria go as far north as Ohio. I just learned lately that they are common in lakes around Mt. Pleasant, TX and are a pest in coastal Maryland. Local lore has the entire US nutria population descended from escapees of a breeding program on McIhenny's Tabasco pepper farm on Avery Island.
Actually, Jeff shot it on his grandmother's rice farm. I just wanted to see Jeff shoot the Summit post-tune. On the rice farm, the nutria burrow through the levees, prefer to eat young, tender vegetation and breed like rats. There's a $5.00 bounty on the tails if they are taken in certain areas and they must be trapped in some areas and seasons, but they can be removed from farmland at any time.
Jeff and I have both eaten nutria before, but didn't care to deal with it. It tastes like rabbit, and has a similar texture. Its been since the early seventies since I've skinned one. I mostly remember accidently busting the gut. Stomach and intestinal content had a much stronger and more disagreeable odor than raccoons and deer, but not as bad as harry's skunk...
