>Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 18:39:25 -0700
>Reply-To: "Dan Logen" <pdl at whidbey.net>
>
>I was beside a marsh, with cattails and some open water, last weekend near
>Sequim. I heard a sound that I have never heard before. It was a fairly
>high pitched squeeky sound, very similar to what you might hear in a forest
>when the wind causes two trees to rub together.
>------------------------
>
>Nutria or coypu from South America make a variety high pitched squeeks and
mewing sounds when mating and/or tending their kits. Maybe you heard nutia
noise.

This aquatic mammal with a round and tapered rat-like tail( not like the
laterally compresses tail of the muskrat) has become well established in our
lowland wetlands from individuals released by disenchanted nutria ranchers
when their bubble burst in the early '60's during this fur raising scam.

Nutria ranching followed on the heels of chinchilla ranching as another
"get rich" scheme. Remember all the ads of lovely women sporting coats of
the wonder fur from chinchillas. The fur was lustrous but fragile with poor
wearing qualities. Nutria fur never reached same level of promotional ads
as did chinchilla coats and finally disappeared from the scene but not
before nutria were touted to be eatable as toothsome as rabbit. This failed
as well and now we have another exotic inhabiting our wetlands.

Bill
William H. Lawrence PhD
Centralia WA
mail to: whl at localaccess.com