06/03/2026
All Escambia nutria sightings have been at Lost Key - Citizens asked to photograph and report any Perdido Key sightings
By Rick O’Connor
Many have heard of nutria and associate the animal with the state of Louisiana, but they may have never seen one or know that they are in Escambia County. This large rodent resembles a beaver but differs in that the tail, rather than being flat and paddle like, is round and more like a rat tail.
Locally, all nutria have been reported from Lost Key Golf Course on Perdido Key.
There have been reports that they are now spreading beyond the golf course. If you live in the Perdido Key area and think you may have seen one, please take a photograph and report it to the Escambia Extension office (Escambia Extension).
Nutria typically reach lengths of 16-24 inches in body length, up to two feet tall, and weigh between 10-20 pounds.
They have a thick coat of fur, which is what triggered their dispersal across the planet.
In the late 1800s fur traders began collecting them from their native South America and brought them to Europe and North
American farms and ranges to establish a fur trade. When this trade collapsed in the early 20th century, many escaped or were intentionally released.
Nutria are herbivores and feed on a wide variety of plants. They will consume about 25% of its body weight daily. Their target is the base of the plant, and they will dig to consume the roots and rhizomes of these plants. They live in freshwater marshes and consume many of the plants that live there.
Their digging can alter the habitat similar to how beavers alter theirs with log dams. Nutria will build floating mats of vegetation in which they live, again similar to beavers and log dens, but they are also known to dig burrows along the shoreline.They live in colonies and can reach an age of six years in captivity but most in the wild do not reach the age of three.
Like many other rodents, nutria reach sexual maturity very quickly – in their case, within 3-4 months. The gestation period for females is about four months, and she will give birth to only one, or up to 13 pups. She will mate within two days of giving birth and typically produces two litters a year. The largest number of pups is in the first year and each successive year the number of offspring per litter decreases.
They are more nocturnal in habit, emerging during daylight hours only when food is scarce. They can be aggressive when cornered or trapped.
One of the characteristics of an invasive species is they cause damage, or some other sort of problem. With nutria the problem is their digging. This alters the environment that can negatively impact other native species, and digging into dikes and levees can be problematic for humans.
They are also known to impact rice and sugarcane plantations, feeding on the plants and damaging the land. A 2020 United States Department of Agriculture fact sheet stated that nutria are in at least 20 different states. They are found in every state in the southeast.
Pictured: Nutria feeding at Lost Key Golf.
