Coypu – Nutria – A Global Problem?

Based on last night’s trail cam the little blighters did not come up off the full river, nor did they cross the bridge. It is pissing down today. I walked around the pond and at the edge of the property I noticed what appears to be a freshly chewed hole in the wire mesh fence. The mesh wire is more than a couple of millimetres thick. That is some chewing.

I’ll monitor the hole tonight and if they come through, I will extend a single strand of the electric fence to cover the hole. I might run it wilderness side to protect the fence.

From the internet these coypu are a problem in Europe, Japan and USA.

I have read some interesting ideas some of which might not be accurate. The Americans prefer guns. Though on one forum I saw juicy fruit chewing gum mentioned.  Juicy fruit has a strong odour. The protagonist suggests that the Coypu cannot pass this so they die of constipation. Another suggestion was chocolate Ex-lax laxative. Apparently, this causes them to shit themselves to death.

When I was a kid, as a prank, I offered one of my school friends some Ex-lax. I even told him it was laxative chocolate. He ate it, nevertheless. Half an hour later he had to leave class in something of a rush. People sometimes do not believe the truth.

Clearly, coypu are something of a hobby / irritation for many around the globe.

They were introduced into Japan during the second world war to provide fur…

You learn something new every day…

We have some lemon flavoured Movicol in the drugs store and I can probably source some industrial grade Pico-lax before my next colonoscopy…we have loperamide and racecadotril or acetorphan, too.

Hmn….