A colony of swamp rats is spreading throughout a Fort Worth park
If you’re headed to south Fort Worth, beware of the swamp rats.
A colony of nutria — medium-sized, brown critters that resemble beavers — have spread throughout Krauss Baker Park in Fort Worth near Wedgwood. At least 20 of the rodents gathered one day near the Kroger at Altamesa Boulevard and McCart Avenue, according to a photo sent to the Star-Telegram.
Anyone else reminded suddenly of the Fire Swamp from “The Princess Bride?”
Nutria, also known as coypu or swamp rats, are usually found in Central Texas and on the Texas coast in marshes, swamps, ponds and lakes, but they’re considered an invasive species, said Dallas-Fort Worth urban wildlife biologist Rachel Richter. They are native to South America, but fur farmers brought the species to the US and sold them as vegetation control because they eat so much.
At least these Rodents of Unusual Size are cute — at least to this Midwest reporter, who had never heard of them before.
Richter said she’s seen “an enormous population” of nutria at Krauss Baker Park. She first noticed the coypu a few years ago on the west side of the park, and said she is not surprised they’ve spread to the east side. The rodents breed very quickly — a female can have two to three litters per year.
A spokeswoman with Fort Worth code compliance said an officer was going to the area to check on the nutria population.
The other reason for the thriving population is due to people feeding the creatures, Richter said. This particular colony seems to have developed a taste for cat food.
Other nutrias seemed excited about the Fort Worth takeover. A group of Austin nutrias who run a Twitter account posted about the Fort Worth photo and said, “It’s finally happening.”
But Richter was less enthused. She said feeding wildlife does more harm than good and has a negative impact on local ecosystems. In some cases, the damage could be severe enough to drive out native species
Nutria can eat up to three pounds a day, so they can quickly destroy vegetation and habitats around bodies of water. They also like to burrow into banks, which can damage dams, roads and other infrastructure.
So please, whatever you do, don’t feed the swamp rats.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
