Wednesday, August 15, 2012

"They Actually Eat That:" Nutria.

A while back, this blog did an entry on a giant water rat called a "nutria." For those of you who missed that entry, here it is in a nutshell: Nutria are giant water rats native to South America that were introduced to the United States for the sake of the fur trade.They have since become invasive in the Southern United States, particularly the swampy areas such as the bayous of Louisiana. For the record, they also happen to be the basis of the Pokemon Raticate.

Hi. Remember me? :B


That said, Louisiana is proposing an innovative method for getting rid of the nutria: Turn them into cuisine. www.nutria.com, along with having great info on these giant rodents, also has a handy recipe page should you encounter one in its unnatural habitat.

There is a whole group of recipes devoted to turning giant rodents into food. For those of you wondering before you click, they include rodent rump roasts, nutria chili, Surprise, surprise, nutria gumbo is a thing. They even have a page of nutria meat processing for your convenience. These are all sponsored by the Lousiana Department of Wildlife and Fishieries, so you know they're good.



Unfortunately, nutria supposedly taste terrible. That's a real shame, seeing as rodents are whole foods for a lot of the natural world. They're probably loaded with protein, and the meat's gotta go somewhere in the end. Hey, if it's good enough for an anaconda, what have you got to lose?

I am also quite sure that there are a million other ways to market nutria meat. "Mystery meat" comes in a lot of forms, usually with horror stories attached. Nobody wants to know what's in hot dogs anyways. Pet food is always an option - giant rats must be a mega-meal for cats. Humans are the ultimate omnivore. Wrap it in a sausage skin and someone will eat it.

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