This animal must be a good one for the southern ADC trapper I'm sure of that . I guess the reason I don't have them up this a way is because they can't live under ice and need massive vegetation to survive . Looks like they cant handle heavy rain ether
Isaac dumps thousands of dead nutria on beaches
By Al Showers
Hancock County officials are scrambling to deal with thousands of dead nutria that washed ashore on beaches during Hurricane Isaac.
The dead swamp rats have started to stink and officials say that could cause a health and environmental hazard to people.
"They're in the tide and just floating in and they're probably going to continue coming in over the next several days," said Waveland Mayor David Garcia. "There's no telling how many thousands we're going to have."
Officials with the Department of Environmental Quality say so far they've counted more than 5,000 dead nutria rats on Hancock County beaches, but they say that number could top 10,000 before they all finish washing ashore.
You may recall Hancock County faced a similar Nutria problem after Hurricane Gustav.
"If you're out here, it's a terrible smell," Garcia said. "As this heat continues, they're just going to blow up and pop, making it even more of a health hazard."
County leaders have asked MEMA for help. They are hoping state officials will hire crews and pay for removal and disposal. If that doesn't happen, officials will have to contract out the job themselves.
"Either way, we've got a time frame that we need to get out there and get it taken care of," said Hancock County Road Manager Bill Johnson. "Regular debris can sit out there for a little while until we take care of it. Because it's such a large quantity of carcasses that need to be cleaned up immediately, we've got a short window here. They just get to the point where they are unbearable."
A decision on whether MEMA will fund the clean-up operation is expected Saturday morning.
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