Everything is Everything...

Every now and then there is an event, you see something, hear something or you have a thought that draws everything together. That's what happens to me and if it happens to me, I'm no one special it, probably happens to you. The things I draw on today are nutria rats and the culture of Louisiana. 

Way back me and the three older kids went on a camp out/fishing trip/duck hunt. It was to Lake Sam Rayburn. Cathy might have stayed home pregnant with Mary. It was a cold camp out but the fish bit and I made this photo of nutria rats sitting on a log. 

Several years later the internet starts to be a big thing but it was before social media and all that and I think I have some pretty good photos that people should see so I start up a photo hosting web site. Sometime after posting this photo in an online album I had titled "The Great Outdoors" I check web site stats and discovered it had been viewed 6000 times. There was not much to do on the internet in those days since politics did not exist yet and I bet there is some math you could do that would prove what the exponential population production of offspring by this little family group of water rodents would be. Nutria Rats are an invasive species and unchecked they cause problems. 

The nutria is originally from South American where it was often overharvested for meat and fur which led to Nutria farm development around the world in various locations. From here they often escaped or were sprung from captivity by the hurricanes that strike the southern United States. In 1945 nutria imported by the McElhanney Tabasco Hot Sauce family were released on Avery Island in Louisiana. It was often thought that releasing them would produce an animal that could be hunted for meat or fur and would control aquatic vegetation since they are plant eaters. Although the fur was at one time popular for coats and hats they mostly caused problems burrowing and disrupting the environment for other species. 

For the full story on Nutria rats catch this movie on Amazon Prime called "Rodents of Unusual Size." 

The music from this movie is by a band called the Lost Bayou Ramblers. I saw them at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2018. They are taking Cajun music to new frontiers and at the same time promoting the traditional through fiddler Louis Michot's label Nouveau Electric Records

Also a good movie to check out for another sound track by The Lost Bayou Ramblers is "Lost Bayou." 

I still fish the same area where I took that nutria rat photo almost 30 years ago. There really does not seem to be a population explosion of these rodents but there is plenty of backwater where they may be thriving. I note several families of otters frolicking in the coves and off the sandbars every year and alligator sightings which have become more common in the old creek may have something to do with rodent population control. A nutria rat, being a vegetarian is reported to be quite tasty although I have never tried to eat one.  

I forget who said it but hopefully for you, like me, everything is everything.