I was walking by the newly constructed foot-paddle boat launch area in The Park and saw this sight for the first time... three adult NUTRIAS on land. I see them in water, and I see them chewing reeds, and I see them sometimes on the banks of the lank on the grass, I assume hunting for tasty new green shoots. But I've never seen them stacked up like a bunch of firewood. One woke up and was in the middle of this little grooming thing they do... he's almost finished by the time my camera caught him.
I love it that he is making the same face you might do if you were scratching your underbelly. Cracks me up. I also think it's funny to watch the two duck feathers swimming around in the back ground in the same way the ducks themselves would. A sort of optical illusion (If you can imagine them as two tiny white ducks).
These little guys are so like Beavers in appearance (except for the tail)... I don't know if Beavers also do what you saw him doing, but I did read up that Nutrias regularly rub their hair with their hands to distribute natural oils that help their hair/skin stay protected while they tool around in the water so much. That was the tail end of what you saw him doing... I love how they use their little hands much like ours.
Here, it looks like he wants his pal to wake up, but he's out cold. I really was surprised to see this kind of behavior.
I realize these are not the best videos but I've been so busy I haven't been able to do much more than this. I have some great video of hummingbirds at our CO cabin feeders and many brightly colored birds that came to visit that I hope to load before I go out of town end of this weekend. In the mean time....
I had never seen a Nutria before I moved here, but they are prevalent. Do you have them where you live?
Stories, pictures and videos about just what the title says... If you are a lover of all animals and the great outdoors, and conservation and being green I hope you enjoy. Please, subscribe or follow me, and pass the url along to friends. Leave a comment or three...
Followers
About Me
- Rockwrites
- All materials contained in this blog are protected by copyright laws, and may not be reproduced, republished, distributed, transmitted, displayed, broadcast or otherwise exploited in any manner without the express prior written permission of the owner, the author, authors or sources of said materials.
Posts
Labels
- #14 (1)
- #15 (1)
- #17 (5)
- #20 (1)
- 15 (1)
- 16 (4)
- 18 (6)
- 19 (7)
- 20 (1)
- 21 (1)
- 22 (1)
- About Me (1)
- Animal rescue (1)
- Apes (1)
- baby animals (3)
- Bats (1)
- Bears (5)
- Beavers (3)
- Big Al (3)
- Big Cats (11)
- Birds (37)
- Blog Awards (1)
- BlueJay's (3)
- bobcats (2)
- books (1)
- Bunnies (9)
- Camels (1)
- Center (1)
- Cheetahs (1)
- Chickens (5)
- Chicks (1)
- Chimney Swifts (2)
- Colorado (2)
- cows (1)
- deer (5)
- Dogs (15)
- dolphins (2)
- Domestic Cats (12)
- ducks (28)
- Eagles (4)
- Egrets (1)
- elephants (3)
- Elk (1)
- Elvis (7)
- Falcons (1)
- Feeding (1)
- Feral (1)
- Fish (3)
- Flying Squirrels (1)
- Funnies (5)
- Gardening (1)
- Geese (13)
- gifts (2)
- Giraffes (10)
- giraffes Zoo (1)
- Goats (9)
- Grackles (10)
- hedgehog (1)
- Herons (1)
- hippo (1)
- holidays (3)
- Horses (5)
- Hummingbirds (3)
- hurricane Ike (1)
- Ike (9)
- insects (5)
- Lamb (1)
- Lil' Sweetie (1)
- LIve Webcams (1)
- maine (1)
- Mallards (1)
- Mammals (2)
- Mating (1)
- Mediccal or Health supplied (1)
- meerkats (3)
- Misc. Animals (3)
- Mother Nature (1)
- Mr/Mrs Goose (11)
- Muscovy Ducks (8)
- nature (1)
- Nests (1)
- New York (4)
- New Zealand (7)
- Nutrias (8)
- opossums (2)
- Orangutans (2)
- Otters (1)
- outdoors (1)
- Owls (13)
- Paul and Mary (2)
- Pelicans (2)
- Peter (2)
- photography (1)
- pig (1)
- plants (1)
- Polar Bears (1)
- Porcupines (1)
- Possums (1)
- quote (2)
- raptors (3)
- Red Panda (1)
- rehab (2)
- reviews (1)
- Rocky (3)
- Runner Ducks (3)
- Seasons (3)
- sheep (1)
- Sky (4)
- sparrows (1)
- Squirrels (63)
- The Center (52)
- the Park (33)
- Tigers (2)
- Tips (1)
- Travel (1)
- turtles (4)
- verse (9)
- Vultures (2)
- Waterfalls (1)
- whistling ducks (1)
- Wood Ducks (1)
- Woodpeckers (2)
- Zoo (35)
7 comments:
No nutrias here in Ohio, but we do have beaver, and muskrat. (I always think of nutrias as giant muskrats!) And yes, all three species do seem to share a lot of behaviors.
I'm looking forward to the hummingbird posting.
Sydney, I hate to admit I've never heard of Nutrias. But I loved the way the one tried to wake the other one. That was precious.
With all you have on your plate right now, how are you keeping up with this? Amazing woman!
Like a cross between a beaver and a giant rat. I know we have rats here in lovely L.A. but not sure about the Nutrias.
if not for their tail, yes you can say they beavers,good they were cooperative on your cam,they seem liked it,lol.
Nutrias are new to me, too. I enjoyed the little videos and watching them use their little hands. Trying to wake up his buddy was really cute. I think it's much like trying to wake me up (only I don't have a tail)
I think we have them here in Virginia...least I have seen something like them on the verges on the parkways here.
In Maine, we don't yet have nutria. I say 'yet,' because with global warming, who knows. Nutria are an introduction into our ecology for the fur trade. They are considered a pest in many places in the south. Once I saw an episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods filmed in Louisiana where they were eating nutria. I thought, "Ya, okay, big rodent food source. Okay." then, later, I saw an episode of Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods where they were eating Atlantic Puffins (we do have them here), yet I didn't think, "Okay, small chicken thing, okay to eat." It really bummed me out! these things really make you examine your values.
Post a Comment