floating carrots

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cfm
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floating carrots

Post by cfm » January 26th, 2015, 2:26 am

We saw two of these platforms in the canal connecting Smith and Bybee Lakes today. They're covered with large chunks of carrot. We didnt see anything that looked like a trap.

What do you think they're for? The carrot pieces seem too big for birds to eat. Beaver feeding stations?
carrots.jpg

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vibramhead
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Re: floating carrots

Post by vibramhead » January 26th, 2015, 11:10 am

I think it's a nutria bait station, used with a camera to assess population size. They're an exotic, and do a lot of damage.
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retired jerry
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Re: floating carrots

Post by retired jerry » January 26th, 2015, 12:20 pm

Then we should arrange the carrots in patterns.

Maybe a tower.

Spell out "no nutria here"?

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Koda
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Re: floating carrots

Post by Koda » January 26th, 2015, 4:05 pm

I like your sense of humor Jerry... :)

I would think if there was enough of a problem with nutria they wouldn't need to go to the expense of building a floating bait dock, they would just go to work exterminating them.
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

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retired jerry
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Re: floating carrots

Post by retired jerry » January 26th, 2015, 4:29 pm

Maybe they need to figure out how many, before exterminating.

If you just start killing Nutria, you won't know how many more there are, or if there are enough to worry about.

In 1960s I went Nutria trapping with friend. I just walked along. If there was enough of a bounty, people would trap them.

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Koda
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Re: floating carrots

Post by Koda » January 26th, 2015, 4:41 pm

you can safely assume there are no more when the traps go empty.


Nutria used to be prized for their fur, maybe someone could start making locally made fur coats..... I hear retro is in!
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

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vibramhead
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Re: floating carrots

Post by vibramhead » January 26th, 2015, 6:31 pm

This document at p. 8, seems to explain what's going on:
In the month of November Wildlife Services Chris Lulay, spent 77 hours between November 2nd
and November 20th to remove 122 Nutria. While on site, Wildlife Services observed multiple aquatic
species; including Beaver Muskrat and Nutria. Wildlife Services control efforts include the use of a few
cage traps with little success and the use of suppressed firearms and spotlight to remove all of the Nutria
that were taken.

The environmental damage, observed by WS at the Smith Bybee Lake recreation area, was some of the
worst that the Northwest WS district has ever observed. This in turn is very unhealthy and can have a
negative impact on native plant species.

Future projects that would be recommended would be for WS to set up bait stations of carrots on rafts
around the lakes.
WS would use game cameras to get a better idea of how many animals may be on
sight. The use of game cameras would assist in conducting more removal projects with the use of a
suppressed firearm and spotlight.
Here's a typical nutria bait raft:

Image

And according to this, the typical control technique is to poison them with zinc phosphide, but it sounds like Wildlife Services is going to stick with sharpshooters.
Time spent hiking will not be deducted from your life.

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Don Nelsen
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Re: floating carrots

Post by Don Nelsen » January 26th, 2015, 7:48 pm

That is interesting - I had no idea! Thanks for the info.
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cfm
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Re: floating carrots

Post by cfm » January 26th, 2015, 11:14 pm

Gee thanks for the enlightenment Vibramhead. We did see quite a few burrows that might have been from the nutria, but not the critters themselves.

Maybe we should get some of these dog treats for our favorite canines.

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vibramhead
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Re: floating carrots

Post by vibramhead » January 27th, 2015, 6:56 am

cfm wrote:Maybe we should get some of these dog treats for our favorite canines.
Brilliant way to harness the free market!
Time spent hiking will not be deducted from your life.

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