Nutrias are an invasive species in South Louisiana, and now they’ve invaded the national press. In the past few days, stories about Neuty, Louisiana’s most beloved swamp rat, appeared in The Washington Post, on National Public Radio, and, via The Associated Press, to U.S. NEWS and World Report, the ABC News website, and in newspapers as far away as The Great Falls Tribune in Montana and Hartford Courant in Connecticut.
If you know of any international coverage, let us know.
The heart-warming, yet nail-biting tale of the celebrated 22-pound swamp rat went something like this:
A Bucktown dude named Denny Lacoste rescued an infant neutria that had been hit by a car. Denny and wife Myra raised the critter for two years as a family pet.
It swam in the pool, nested in the hall bathroom and loved riding in the pickup truck, face in the wind like a beagle.
Denny Lacoste’s affectionate, 22-pound nutria, named Neuty
The story of Neuty made for a fabulous human-interest story in The Times-Picayune. The amphibious rodent became a sensation. And that became a problem.
You see, people aren’t supposed to keep big wild swamp rats as pets. There are laws … even in Louisiana.
So, state Wildlife and Fisheries Department agents showed up in Bucktown to, uh, arrest Neuty and send him off to live in the Baton Rouge Zoo. But Neuty was elsewhere, so he avoided capture.
For a few anxious hours, it seemed that an innocent, well-meaning newspaper reporter would have caused Neuty to be separated from his human family forever.
Happily, public outcry, the intervention of a state senator, and the representation of a lawyer led the Wildlife and Fisheries Department to arrange for expedited paperwork that allowed Neuty to stay at home, happily ever after.
A 22-pound nutria swims in a family’s pool, sleeps in the bathroom and makes them laugh
Neuty, the pet nutria, to be seized from Bucktown couple by Wildlife and Fisheries agents
Wildlife and Fisheries agent is met by lawyer at nutria owners’ business in Metairie
Nutria as pets? Why that’s not only illegal, but also a bad idea, wildlife experts say
Neuty, the controversial pet nutria, allowed to stay with Bucktown family
Related:
Neuty, the controversial pet nutria, allowed to stay with Bucktown family
Neuty, the pet nutria, to be seized from Bucktown couple by Wildlife and Fisheries agents
Neuty, the rescued pet nutria, to be seized by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents
‘Neuty’ the pet nutria to be taken from New Orleans home, headed to Baton Rouge Zoo
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