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Thanks, Isaac: Mississippi Gets 16K Dead 'Swamp Rats'

Storm leaves behind dead nutria on the beaches

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 4, 2012 8:02 PM CDT

(Newser) – Isaac may not have been the storm of the century, but beach cleanup workers in Mississippi have a nasty task all the same: About 16,000 dead and bloated nutria—a rat-like rodent with the nickname "swamp rat"—have washed up in the aftermath, reports the local Sun Herald. It's so bad that the Hancock County supervisor says he's pulled county workers off the job to let the feds handle it.

The same thing happened after Hurricane Gustav, "and we had people getting sick; wound up buying everybody's clothes," he says. "Our people just aren't trained for this."

File photo of a very much alive nutria, or 'swamp rat.'
File photo of a very much alive nutria, or 'swamp rat.'   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 17 comments
williambaranowski
Sep 7, 2012 3:51 AM CDT
Bring in some Constrictors from the Everglades. Of course, they probably prefer their dinner to be alive, at least at the beginning of the meal.
Mix20
Sep 5, 2012 10:34 PM CDT
All the comments about-"Fucking hypocritical Mississippi Republicans." and " Second, yet another case of a Southern official wanting the feds to clean up their mess for them. Typical." The Feds have taken more than their fair share of our oil and gas revenue on the GC for nearly 40 years.The money that would have gone to pay for our own cleanup and coastal protection instead went away to Washington and only pennies came back. Course I guess it matters not that 1/3 of our nations energy supply comes through Gulf Coast ports and refineries,probably won't matter though until you have to walk.
WhateverYouSay
Sep 5, 2012 1:56 PM CDT
These critters are big ole things, the size of med. sized dogs and a terrible pest too. Locals hunt them... Great "cue, but they reproduce like, well, rats, too fast for hunting to make a dent in the population. So, this "natural disaster" is one way to reduce the numbers (of nutria, not locals) There are not enough gators to eat the carcasses, so politicians are requesting aid... I think there's a joke in their somewhere.
 

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