Categories

Contributors

Index

About

Contact

Large rodent sitting on the ground, which is covered in leaves, looking towards the camera.

History of Nutria in Willamette Valley and University

Posted by:

WUpedia Contributor

|

On:

|

Written by Student Contributor Juliette Burns, Class of 2026

Many newly arrived into the Willamette Valley may find themselves at a loss with the mention of a curious animal called a nutria. Some find them cute, some find them terrifying, and everyone is confused. Nutria (also called coypu) are semi-aquatic rodents native to South America, similar in appearance to beavers, rats, and (according to some) those giant rodents in the movie The Princess Bride.1 One of their most notable feature is their rat-like tail, especially when compared to their beaver-like body.

Nutria were officially introduced to Oregon in the 1930s, but some people were familiar with the animal well before that from the sale of their fur. Oregon advertisements from throughout the 19th and early 20th century mention nutria fur in conjunction with otter, fox, and beaver fur.2 Nutria fur was considered an alternative to the dwindling availability of beaver fur.3 There was an attempt to introduce them to California for fur farming in 1899, but this was not sustained.4 In the 1930s, nutria were brought to fur farms in Oregon as well as Ohio, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, Michigan, and Louisiana. In the 1950s, the nutria market had a short heyday, driven by the hopes of many seeking to build savings through an easy investment. This demand for nutira would not last long, if it ever really existed at all. By 1956, nutria fur prices were decreasing and the market could not be saved.5 As the market collapsed, escaped and released nutria spread unchecked into wetlands, including urban areas.6 Nutria are known for crop damage, posing a risk of disease transmission, and causing erosion on water banks; they are considered an invasive species in Oregon.7 Because of this, management programs are recommended by government and environmental authorities, usually through live trapping. This invasive status means that they are typically unwelcome sights on principle for many people.

Despite their long history in the area, nutria did not feature in Willamette University written media until 1968, a singular mention which did not occur again until the 1990s.8 The mid to late 1990s was when students truly began to show an interest in these creatures which prowled their campus. The story of the nutria’s introduction to Oregon was told again and again, along with various accounts of the terror and confusion they induce.9 Though, sometimes students aversion would be overcome, as described in an October 1999 edition of The Collegian: “‘I found myself on top of a bench trying to get away from them’ she said, ‘but thenIi became friends with them…’”10

Students have long worked to find a way to describe the nutria. Descriptions included ‘rat-like creature,’ ‘rabid,’ ‘unwanted,’ ‘giant,’ and slightly kinder descriptors of ‘resourceful’ and ‘adaptable.’11 Their appearance is a bit of an acquired taste, thus the connections to ugly fantasy creatures living in death swamps. The attitudes toward nutria during the 1990s-2000s are reflected in this April Fools edition of The Collegian in 2011: “When I think of nutria, I think of ‘Princess Bride’ with those giant rat things. But, I’m not actually sure if that is what they look like, since I have never actually seen one…They are supposedly abundant in Salem, but most people have never seen one, which means they are quite stealthy…They are in our food, they are in our rivers, they are in our sewage and probably even in their sky castle. We aren’t safe.”12 Nutria were often featured in April Fools releases of The Collegian, showing up in 2009, 2011, and 2013.13 Topics in these editions included nutria bounties, water turbines, and giant rats, indicating the turbulent relationship of the nutria and the campus: Do we get rid of them, or not?14

Written descriptions of the nutria around the 1990s to the mid-2010s usually viewed the animals as pests, ugly, or sometimes a source of begrudging respect. By 2017, though, the Collegian was referencing nutria as ‘cute,’ ‘cuddly,’ and a ‘celebrity on campus.’ These friendly illustrations were used in a public service announcement to not touch the baby (or adult) nutria, no matter how cute.15 In the span of a few years, it seems attitudes had gone through a general shift, moving from a semi-tolerant coexistence to an eager student population of nutria admirers.

In 2019, the nutria would mostly vanish from campus for an unknown reason. The cause was theorized to be anything from disease to water levels.16 After a couple of years of a diminished nutria presence, some speculated that they had left because they were no longer being fed.17 Not all was lost for the nutria lovers, however, as in March 2024, The Collegian reported not only the presence of nutria on campus, but the birth of several nutria babies.18 As any invasive species researcher would tell you, nutria do not go away easily.

Endnotes

Click to expand
  1. ˆ 1 “Nutria,” National Invasive Species Information Center: U.S. Department of Agriculture; Lydia Alexander, “Exploring Salem: on campus and beyond,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 25, 1995; Nathan le Quieu, “Nutria overrun Pringle Park,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), January 31, 1997; “Nutria (Myocastor coypus),” Louisiana Fur Council
  2. ˆ “Spring Styles!” The Daily Morning Astorian (Astoria, Oregon), February 14, 1888, p. 1; “November Sale of Furs,” East Oregonian: E.O., (Pendleton, OR), November 14, 1919, p. 1; “New Hats,” East Oregonian: E.O., (Pendleton, OR), March 7, 1905, p. 8
  3. ˆ “Cool Facts,” Species at a Glance, Oregon State
  4. ˆ Susan Jojola, Gary W. Witmer, and Dale Nolte, “Nutria: An Invasive Rodent Pest or Valued Resource?” (2005), Wildlife Damage Management Conferences — Proceedings, 110,
  5. ˆ Kylie Pine, “Nutria in the Mid-Willamette Valley,” Willamette Heritage Center, February, 2024
  6. ˆ Jojola, Witmer, & Nolte, “Nutria: An Invasive Rodent Pest or Valued Resource?”, p. 121
  7. ˆ “Living with wildlife: Nutria,” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
  8. ˆ “Roaming Rumor?”, Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 27, 1968
  9. ˆ Nathan le Quieu, “Nutria overrun Pringle Park”; Jesse Goldberg, “Nutria: our rodent neighbor,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), November 14, 2002
  10. ˆ Belinda Stillion, “Brand Spanking Nutria,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), October 14, 1999
  11. ˆ Goldberg, “Nutria: our rodent neighbor”; Jade Olson, “Ask me anything,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 12, 2007; “Willamette’s New Year’s Resolutions 2007,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), January 24, 2007
  12. ˆ Jenna Shellan, “Top 10 Threats to Willamette,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), March 30, 2011
  13. ˆ “nutria,” Willamette Archives and Special Collections, Accessed October-November, 2024
  14. ˆ “News@WU,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 3, 2013; Shellan, “Top 10 Threats to Willamette”; Meryl Hulse, “University disregards comfort, goes green to the extreme,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 1, 2009
  15. ˆ Madelyn Jones, “Nutria are not pets, do not pet nutria,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 20, 2017
  16. ˆ Sanja Zelen, “Disappearing nutria: Where did they go?” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 25, 2019
  17. ˆ Amaya Latuszek, “Nutria remains campus fascination despite lack of sightings,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 29, 2021; Benjamin Snell, “Missing mammal mystery: Fate of the nutria remains unknown,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 27, 2021
  18. ˆ Lee Parsons, “Willamette University’s unwelcome guests: Invasive species on campus,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), March 4, 2024

Works Referenced

Click to expand
  • Alexander, Lydia. “Exploring Salem: on campus and beyond.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 25, 1995. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/10425
  • Goldberg, Jesse. “Nutria: our rodent neighbor.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), November 14, 2002. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/8230
  • Hulse, Meryl. “University disregards comfort, goes green to the extreme.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 1, 2009. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/7568
  • Jojola, Susan; Witmer, Gary W.; and Nolte, Dale, “Nutria: An Invasive Rodent Pest or Valued Resource?” (2005). Wildlife Damage Management Conferences — Proceedings. 110. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_wdmconfproc/11
  • Jones, Madelyn. “Nutria are not pets, do not pet nutria.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 20, 2017.https://hdl.handle.net/10177/10070
  • Kuhn, Lee W. and Peloquin, E. Paul, “OREGON’S NUTRIA PROBLEM” (1974). Proceedings of the 6th Vertebrate Pest Conference (1974). 27. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/vpc6/27
  • Latuszek, Amaya. “Nutria remains campus fascination despite lack of sightings.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 29, 2021. https://www.willamettecollegian.com/post/nutria-remain-a-campus-fascination-despite-lack-of-sightings
  • le Quieu, Nathan. “Nutria overrun Pringle Park.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), January 31, 1997. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/10274
  • “Living with wildlife: Nutria.” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. https://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/living_with/nutria.asp
  • “New Hats.” East Oregonian: E.O., (Pendleton, OR), March 7, 1905. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88086023/1905-03-07/
  • “News@WU.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 3, 2013. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/10084
  • “Nutria.” National Invasive Species Information Center: U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/aquatic/fish-and-other-vertebrates/nutria
  • “nutria.” Willamette Archives and Special Collections. Accessed October-November, 2024. https://digitalcollections.willamette.edu/search?spc.page=2&query=%22nutria%22&scope=d7ae580e-e8f7-4cd1-a7e4-3002882fbd0e&spc.sf=dc.date.issued&spc.sd=DESC
  • “November Sale of Furs.” East Oregonian: E.O., (Pendleton, OR), November 14, 1919. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88086023/1919-11-14/
  • Olson, Jade. “Ask me anything.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 12, 2007. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/10225
  • Parsons, Lee. “Willamette University’s unwelcome guests: Invasive species on campus,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR). March 4, 2024. https://www.willamettecollegian.com/post/willamette-university-s-unwelcome-guests-invasive-species-on-campus
  • Pine, Kylie. “Nutria in the Mid-Willamette Valley.” Willamette Heritage Center, February, 2024. https://www.willametteheritage.org/nutria-in-the-mid-willamette-valley/
  • Rondema, Jessica. “Nutria.” Oregon Encyclopedia. https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/nutria/#:~:text=They%20were%20introduced%20to%20Oregon,quickly%20spread%20throughout%20western%20Oregon.
  • “Roaming Rumor?” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 27, 1968. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/9894
  • Shellan, Jenna. “Top 10 Threats to Willamette.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), March 30, 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/8220
  • Snell, Benjamin. “Missing mammal mystery: Fate of the nutria remains unknown.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 27, 2021. https://www.willamettecollegian.com/post/missing-mammal-mystery-fate-of-the-nutria-remains-unknown
  • “Spring Styles!” The Daily Morning Astorian (Astoria, Oregon), February 14, 1888. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn96061150/1888-02-14/
  • Stillion, Belinda. “Brand Spanking Nutria.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), October 14, 1999. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/9613
  • “Willamette’s New Year’s Resolutions 2007.” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), January 24, 2007. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/9465
  • Zelen, Sanja. “Disappearing nutria: Where did they go?” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 25, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/10177/39912
  • “Nutria (Myocastor coypus).” Louisiana Fur Council. https://www.louisianafur.com/uploads/1/0/4/8/104800207/edited/for-web-nutria-4-shutterstock.jpeg

Image Citations

Click to expand

Posted by

WUpedia Contributor

in