Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A nutria kind of day


When I saw the third nutria, I got out my camera. I had seen only one before in a year of paddling.

The first one flew mid-air in front of me and startled me. It had leaped from a hole above and to my left in the steep bank. It dove and although I stopped and looked around, I never saw it surface.

The second one swam out of a small inlet and passed in front of me. The third one did the same, and then I got out my camera. This photo below is the only one of these that I took; the others here are from different sources.



Nutria are an introduced species in Oregon, and also known as "river rats." I always think they look more like beavers than rats, and I enjoy seeing their fat furry bodies swimming by.



Along the stretch of river I paddle along the island dike is eroded in many places and there are lots and lots of holes. Some perhaps, are just where rocks washed out, but as I kept on going I looked for holes that might be the size of a nutria burrow.



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